Final Heat
by Oldest Man
Summary: He's done shadowing Beckett and has finished the last novel in the Heat series and now is preparing to go on tour - but not to promote his book. Last chapter is up.  Hope you enjoy it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own _Castle_ and am only doing this to keep from going nuts in my retirement. this is my first attempt at writing and any criticism is welcome.

With aplogies to Amanda and the cast and writers of _Castle_.

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><p><strong>Final Heat<strong> by Oldest Man

Chapter 1

Castle is writing in his study and has finally decided exactly how to end the story. Coming to the Hamptons was a great idea he'd had and the words had flowed from his fingertips as easily and the whiskey flowed down his throat. He'd finally broken his writer's block. Or actually, Beckett had done it for him. Or to him. He wasn't sure which was the more appropriate.

_Nikki held her shirt tightly against the wound but she knew it was hopeless. She couldn't stop the bleeding by herself and the ambulance was still minutes away._

"_Rookie, please, hold on for me, baby. Don't leave me, okay? You're the only clean thing in my dirty life and I need you like air, do you hear me? I need you! Damn it, Rook, I love you, okay? I love you…"_

_Whatever Rook was trying to say was lost as blood spewed from his mouth. His eyes were wild and full of – something she'd never seen in those eyes she'd stared into so many times before - fear._

"_Don't go, Rook! Don't leave me alone. What'll I do without you? Who'll be my Falstaff, my Sancho Panza, my best friend and so much more? Please hold on. I hear the ambulance – just hold on tight to me. Hold on, damn you!"_

_He reached out and tenderly caressed her cheek, his fingertips leaving bloody trails and then he sighed and was gone. Nikki was startled by the scream of an animal in incredible pain. Some small part of her brain was not consumed with guilt and anguish and recognized the sound as her own voice screaming Rook's name over and over until strong arms dragged her away from the only man she'd ever loved enough to let see the real Nicole Heat and who loved her anyway._

Castle's finger hovered over the _**Enter**_ key. He was, figuratively, holding on to what little remained of his literary alter ego, James Rook, whom he'd crafted to resemble himself sufficiently to be recognizable to those who knew him and his real life shadowing of the men and women of the 12th Precinct.

Okay, he was fooling himself. He was shadowing one woman, Detective Katherine Beckett, even though he had enough 'research' for ten novels. The rest of the precinct had become minor characters, good friends to be sure, but still minor characters. He was there only for her and her alone and now…that was over, too.

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><p>He'd changed the title of the last installment in the Nikki Heat series. <em><span>Final Heat<span>_ was a play on words. The race was over and he'd lost. He'd called his ex-wife and explained the change but not why.

"Ricky, I like it. It's more than a play on words. It's a surprisingly elegant play on words. Going out there was the right move after all. Want some company?"

"Oh, um, no. I'm on a roll and I will have this finished and emailed to you before the day is done. Have you finalized the tour arrangements?"

"Yeah and I think this will be a publicity bonanza for your book. Everyone will be kicking their asses for not thinking of it first. You've really surprised me with all this sudden creativity but it's long overdue. Now, don't worry about the tour – finish the damned book!"

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><p>He re-read what he'd written recognizing immediately that Beckett would never be so open and honest about her feelings. He had an obligation to be true to the character and to his readers and Nikki Heat would <em>never<em> say those things to Rook. Nor would his muse.

He sighed and took a sip from his whiskey glass, surprised that it was empty again. He reached across himself with his left hand and poured the remainder of the whiskey into his glass, surprised again that the bottle was empty.

Reaching a decision, he moved his finger from the _**Enter**_ key and hit _**Delete **_instead. Sipping his liquor, he let his mind free associate.

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><p>Heat and Rook were hot on the trail of Joseph Gleason who had killed three store clerks at a family grocery execution-style and robbed the cash registers of a paltry $230.00 and two cartons of Marlboros. He was arrogant and had even taken off his ball cap and waved at the security camera before leaving.<p>

Esposito had run the images from the security tape through facial recognition database and got a hit within the hour. Their murderer was Joseph Gleason, a small time hood who had moved up from muggings and assaults to robbing convenience stores. This was the first time he'd killed anyone and he was obviously escalating.

His parole officer had provided a 'current' address four months old and from there they'd followed his trail finally catching a break when an off-duty patrolman noticed him casing another convenience store and followed him back to a cheap hotel not far from the scene of the first robbery.

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><p>He knew how he would write it and he started tying, his fingers flying over the laptop keyboard, his eyes closed and his mouth a grim slash across his face.<p>

'_Rook, I'm going up to his room and see if I can surprise him. The desk clerk saw him come in with a hooker and a brown bag of liquor. You stay __here__, understand? For once, Rookie, do exactly what you're told. That cheap suit won't stop a bullet and I don't need the paperwork, understand?'_

'_Yeah, Nikki, stay here, wait for backup, don't do anything stupid. I know the drill. Just watch your ass up there, okay? I got a bad feeling about this.'_

'_Humph. You're probably just feeling those chilidogs you wolfed down. I'm telling you, Rookie, your eating habits are going to be the death of you. Now, when the guys get here, send them up. I'll tell you all about it when I bring Gleason down.'_

_She blew him an air kiss and chuckled at the look of hope and pleasure on his face._

'_Not in your wildest dreams. Maybe a nightmare of mine but…' She laughed at the look on his face and then took the stairs two at a time giving Rook a free show of toned thighs under her short skirt.'_

_Rook sat down on a ratty leather couch and used a pen to move the magazines around on the coffee table covered in cigarette burns and beer can rings and the remnants of someone's lunch from a week ago. He knew from past experience that he'd find a roach or twelve when he moved the magazines and he was right._

_A man came in and he glanced up and saw Joseph Gleason strolling through the lobby and heading up to his room. The clerk had either lied or been mistaken and Heat didn't have him there to check her six like before. He had to warn her._

_He took out his cell and called her but knowing her, the consummate professional, she had it turned off. _

_Cursing her in three languages, he started up the stairs behind Gleason. He had no idea what he was going to do except that no one had her back and he had to do something – even something 'childishly stupid and immature'. _

_He reached the top of the stairs for the third floor and saw Gleason crouching down, a Glock pointed at Nikki's back as she leaned against his room door and listened for some sign Gleason was getting it on with the hooker and would be slow to react._

'_Nikki! Behind you!' He shouted and was mortified that his voice was at least an octave higher than normal and then scared shitless when Gleason whirled and fired twice before turning back to shoot the woman cop who was at his door. _

_Everyone had heard of Nikki Heat and he was not about to become another notch in her belt. _

_Nikki already had her service pistol drawn and so she simply turned, pointed and fired twice, killing Gleason with each shot – one to the heart and one to the head – her standard maneuver._

_She didn't see Rook lying at the bottom of the stairs, arms out to his sides and his head twisted and resting on the landing. His killer had the same targeting philosophy as Heat – one to the heart and the other to the head._

_She was busy cuffing him per procedure even though he was dead twice over. She followed procedure when it served her purposes and a Shooting Board would note that and maybe cut her some slack. She was going through his pockets when she heard her backup finally making their way noisily up the stairs._

"_It's about damned time, guys. You're a little late for the show. Send Rook up here, will ya?"_

"_Uh, Nikki, you better come down here…"_

Castle typed a few more paragraphs to wrap things up neatly. The final chapter of the final _Nikki Heat_ novel was finished. He saved the entry and then emailed it to Gina for editing and final thoughts. His only comment was that '_any changes require, I repeat, Gina, require my approval. It's in the contract.'_

His ex-wife was sure to read between the lines and be on the phone within minutes of reading the conclusion. She wouldn't even comment that it was done well before the Black Pawn deadline. Such things were beneath her. All she'd probably respond with was 'Ok, what's next and when can I expect an outline?'

Tradition dictated that he write the dedication after finishing the novel and he loathed flaunting tradition so he looked at the blank screen for a few seconds and then wrote

_**For KB - an early wedding present**__**for the bride-to-be.  
>I wish you both all the best life has to offer.<strong>_

He saved the file and then sent another email to Black Pawn and attached the dedication and then closed out his word processor and slowly and deliberately closed his laptop and left to find another bottle of liquor.

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><p>Remember, this is my first attempt at anything like this. I used to write reports, manuals and plans but nothing as hard as this.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the kind reviews and all the alerts. Much appreciated by a first-time writer here. _Castle_ is owned by ABC and no infringement is intended. I'm just not ready for the old farts' home quite yet and this occupies my time.

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><p><em>Final Heat<em> by Oldest Man

Chapter 2

"Beckett."

Terse. Curt. Those words best described Detective Beckett since the 'Battle of the Bull Pen' as others described her fight with Castle two months ago.

"Ms. Beckett, this is Gina from Black Pawn Publishing. I've sent galley proofs over to the Precinct for your review and comments. Please email me with your comments and feel free to share your comments with 'the boys' as Rick referred to them. A messenger should be there shortly."

"Ah, galley proofs? My review? Of what?" She stared at the empty chair beside her desk, _his_ chair, empty now for the past 8 weeks.

"Why, the last novel in the _Nikki Heat_ series. It's entitled _Final Heat_ and it's extraordinary both because he wrote it in just 7 weeks and because it catches the essence of the characters in a depth he normally eschews. It's dark and brooding, just like he is."

_'Rick Castle is not dark and brooding. Sure he pouts like a 3 year old but he's never 'dark'. He's the light in my life. Was.'_

"Wait a minute. Castle never said he was writing another book and certainly not the final one of the series. He would have told me something that important."

"Not really. Not if he thought it wasn't important to you. Now, the cover art is really out there but it's a fascinating image. He painted it himself and I have to say if he ever gives up writing, he's got a fabulous career ahead as an artist. He's captured you in three quarter profile with a single teardrop of blood on your cheek – well, Nikki Heat's cheek. I've included the original canvas done in acrylic with your proofs. It's yours. We're sending copies out as promotions and they're simply _fabulous_. Another surprise from my creative genius, Ricky."

Kate was at a loss for words and Gina was quick to capitalize on it. God, how she hated Beckett for what she'd done to her best author. The Heat franchise could have made him millions more but he abruptly ended it saying he had 'new subjects that cried out for his attention'. That was Richard Castle's way of dealing with a broken heart. He finished what he was doing and turned away, and he would never look back.

"He went to his house in the Hamptons after your - disagreement and sequestered himself and generated a chapter every few days. He cut himself off from his family and friends saying he needed to 'sweat the Heat out of his system'. I drove up there to check on him, Detective, because he wasn't answering his cell and ignoring emails from me about progress. Alexis was beside herself with worry after he quit responding to her emails. That was last month."

"He's okay, isn't he? I mean, he's not sick or anything, right?" Castle would never ignore his daughter. She was the light of his life and he'd never consciously worry her. He was every girl's dream father.

"He's fine. He answered the door in his bathrobe and handed me 22 chapters and told me _'hit the road, you blood-sucking blonde vampire, I'm trying to write the Great American Novel'_ and slammed the door in my face. Other than reeking of booze and letting his personal hygiene slip, he appeared fine, a bit thinner than I'd like, but fine."

"Well, that's good. I mean that he's fine. And healthy. I'll get my comments out as soon as I can. Things have been quiet around here and there's not much to do."

"Great. He goes on 'tour' next Friday and he'll be gone at least three months. I had a fit when he announced his idea of a 'tour' but it's really quite brilliant. No signings, no launch parties, no talk shows, none of the usual Castle extravaganzas. No. This 'tour' will knock the socks off the competition and guarantee the success of his next series. I just hope he comes through it all right. He's such a _guy_ sometimes."

"Castle is tough. He'll handle the press and the groupies. He'll be in his element. You know how he can work a crowd." She tried to sound upbeat and positive. Inside she felt like something had been taken from her. Something she didn't know she needed. Something she missed more than she thought possible.

"Detective, are you happy? I mean, happy that he's out of your hair? I know he can be a lot to handle but he's really the kindest, sweetest and most considerate man I've ever known. Working with you changed him in so many positive ways. It's a shame how it ended between you two. I really thought he'd found his… Oh, Jesus, I'm late! I have a lunch meeting and I have to make sure he gets his shots and has all the legal crap current and up to date. I appreciate you taking my call, Detective. And thank you on behalf of Black Pawn for allowing Castle to shadow you. Oh, and best wishes on your upcoming wedding. I know he'll hate missing it. Good bye."

_'That woman really irritates me. No wonder Castle divorced her. She asks questions and never lets you answer. She's pushy and judgmental and so damned – God I hate her!'_

She pushed the irritating Gina bitch down into the part of her mind where she kept the 'trash' and turned her attention to her paperwork. She had to get her butt in gear since she had a dress fitting at 2pm and she wanted a clear desk when she left for the day.

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><p>She was finally finishing up her last report and just had to sign it and submit it and she was free for the rest of the day. A voice called out "Katherine Beckett?" from near the elevator.<p>

She turned and saw a messenger pushing a trolley with several boxes and a large portfolio case. She waved her hand and he changed direction.

"Ms. Beckett, I need you to sign here. And could you also sign for the M.E. and Detectives Esposito and Ryan? I need to find the Precinct Captain, Roy…"

"I'm authorized to sign for them all. Thank you." She signed the clip board while the man stacked the boxes and then handed her the portfolio case.

"I was told that if anything happened to this, I'd better be under the truck that hit me. Must be important, huh?"

"Yeah. It is. Look, you made your delivery. Scat. We've got cop stuff to do." She wanted to open the portfolio in private and she kept glancing at the clock and wishing she could postpone the fitting but she'd already done so twice because of police business. Josh had accused her of getting cold feet and they'd had another argument about her commitment to their relationship and marriage. _She_ wasn't the one who'd rescheduled the wedding to work around his Doctors Without Borders trips.

She picked up the phone and dialed Lanie's extension saying 'Can you break loose and come up here, please? There's something I want you to see and also Castle sent you a present."

"Ooo, is he still there? Don't you let that boy get away. I want to talk to him and you together. Kate, this is so childish and stupid. You sit on Rick if you have to, but don't let him escape."

"Um, well, it was a delivery service that brought them. Copies of his new book, I think. There's a box for you, the boys and even one for Captain Montgomery. And since when do you call him 'Rick'?"

"I've always called him by his first name when you're not around. You're the stupid idiot who keeps treating like a redheaded stepchild. I swear, Kate, if you…"

Beckett hung up the phone. She didn't have time to waste listening to Lanie Parish berate her. She glanced at the clock again, willing it to either move backwards, slow down or stop altogether.

She opened up one end the heavily reinforced cardboard portfolio container and placed it flat on her desk and then carefully slid out the unframed canvas from inside.

"Oh my God, Kate! That's _you_ as I live and breathe. It's so…beautiful and he's captured your profile in such…is that a teardrop of blood on the cheek?" She hadn't heard Lanie walk up behind her.

Beckett just sat there, stunned by the painting. Ignoring that she was the subject, Beckett was intrigued by Castle's use of color and shading to put such deep and dark emotions into his subject. The tear was indeed a drop of blood and she knew that the significance would have to be explained in the accompanying galleys.

She pointed to Lanie's box and said, "There. That one's yours. I got the only one with an actual painting but Gina said they were sending out copies as promotional materials so don't just go ripping off the cardboard."

"Kate, don't cry. I'm sure he'll call you or come by. It's been more than two months and the man only has so much tolerance for the absence of his muse from his life. I'll bet he'll stroll in here and look for 'reviews' on his latest book."

"I'm not crying, Lanie. Why would you – ."

"Hey, I'm not the one with the eyeliner dribbling down her cheeks. Call him, Kate. You know you want to. Don't be such a – ".

"I have to go. Dress fitting and I can't miss it. Josh will be there and you know how little free time he has so this is a big deal to him and I don't want to disappoint him again. I'll swing by and pick up all this later."

"Castle would have understood. Castle would have bought the damned dress shop and told them to change their hours. Castle would – ".

"Damn it, Lanie, I'm _not_ marrying Richard Edgar Castle. I'm marrying the man I love, Josh. Now just leave it alone, okay? I have to go. Call me tonight and we'll 'discuss' the latest outrage from the pen of Richard Castle. It's the last book. He'll probably fill it with gratuitous sex between his surrogate and Nikki Heat. Now life can go back to the way it was BC – _Before Castle_. Call me."

She grabbed her coat and keys and wiped away the tears that weren't there and made a mental note to repair any defects in her makeup.

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><p>Silhouettes<br>Manhattan

"Ah, Miss Beckett, right on time for a change. Dr. Davison called and he can't make it. Something about a critical case. It's for the best, you know? The groom shouldn't see the bride in her gown before the wedding. It's bad luck."

Kate was instantly irritated with her fiancé and the waspish little woman who seemed to think the world revolved around her and her precious wedding boutique. Well, it didn't.

"I've already had all the bad luck one person can possibly have so that particular superstition doesn't bother me. Look, I'm really pressed for time so cut the chit-chat and let's get this Iron Maiden fitted so I can get on with the important things in life."

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><p>Beckett's Apartment<br>10:30pm

She and Josh had gone out for supper even though she told him she was tired and just wanted to curl up on her couch and read a book or something. _He_ wanted to go out, so they did and now he was back at his place and she was in hers. Her place. She'd never considered asking him to move in and he hadn't given any thought to asking her to share his apartment.

What did that say? Would they even live together after they were married?

She picked up her cell and called him. "Hey, it's me. I'm sorry, did I wake you. I didn't know you'd be asleep already. Look, I was thinking, where are we going to live after we get married? We haven't discussed it and I think it's time we did."

Kate listened for a few seconds and then sighed. "I'm sorry to be a nag, honey, but the wedding's only a few months away and I don't like waiting until the last minute before talking about something so important."

"Yes, I know it's late and I know you have to get up at 5am but…"

"Fine, Josh. We'll talk about it over lunch…"

"I didn't bring it up at dinner because you were shoveling spaghetti into your mouth like you hadn't eaten in a week and when you did talk it was about some damned contraption called and 'Octopus Retractor' and…"

"Okay. Noon at Remy's. Bye. Yeah, I love you, too."

She glanced at her clock again and called Lanie. The phone rang and almost went to voicemail when her best friend answered the phone sounding like she was crying.

"Lanie, is everything all right? Are you crying? What's wrong? Do you want me to come over? Lanie?"

"No, you don't have to come over. I'm sure you have better things to do. Have you read it yet? It's…it's so damned…"

She started to sniffle and then Kate heard her blow her nose before continuing.

"Have you read it yet? I finished it and it damned near finished me. It took all my will power not to call a cab and show up at his loft and just hug him until I was feeling better. It's the best thing I've read in years. It's so damned…"

"What? It's so damned what?"

"Oh, no. You don't get the short version. You don't get a pass on this. Read the damned book, Katherine Beckett, and then tell me why you're marrying Motorcycle Boy!"

"Lanie? Lanie!" Lanie Parish had hung up on her!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own _Castle_. It belongs to the writers, producers and ABC.

I am astounded by the responses this has brought. So many helpful and praiseful reviews and a lot of alerts. Thank you.

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><p><em>Final Heat<em> by Oldest man

Chapter 3

Castle's Loft  
>6am<p>

Castle was packing for a two-day trip to Washington, DC for a meeting with the Pentagon's Public Affairs Officer. He hoped to have all the various forms and permissions wrapped up by the end of the second day. His friend, the senator from NY, had been quite certain that his request would be approved without any delays and that the Army was supportive of his intentions.

_'Rick, not many celebs go this route. And for three months? That alone got their attention and convinced them of your sincerity. I suppose you'll be followed around by a gaggle of hangers-on? You celebs do so love the limelight.'_

_'No entourage, Senator, no press, just me and my trusty laptop. As I've already explained, this tour is not about me or for publicity purposes. It's about those men and women out there doing their duty while the rest of us live out our daily lives in ignorance and safety. Yeah, I'm going for the experience but I'm also going to hit every hospital where there's an American soldier and capture their stories. People need to know what's going on and the wounded are the best source of the truth.'_

He made a mental note to remember to ask the Public Affairs Officer to arrange an appointment for him to obtain the proper press credentials from the Public Information Officer at the Pentagon.

It had always been his dream to become a freelance journalist and now was the perfect opportunity. Alexis was in L.A. with her mother and they'd planned on taking a cruise through the Aleutians and spend the rest of her last summer vacation before college getting reacquainted. His mother, as was her desire each and every summer for as long as he could remember, was doing dinner theatre in Jupiter, Florida and would be returning home a week before Alexis. It was the perfect opportunity.

He called his car service and ordered a town car to take him to Grand Central Station. He had to catch the early AmTrak to DC and begin his meetings and finalize his orientation schedule with the Army at Ft. Bragg.

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><p>Beckett's Apartment<br>6am

She hadn't slept much and when she did her subconscious tortured her with a series of dreams that cast Castle in the role of Jameson Rook. In each dream, Nikki Heat abandoned her shadow with tragic results. While the scenario was different in each dream the outcome was the same – a dead writer and a devastated Nikki Heat.

She had read _Final Heat_ in one sitting. Gina was right. It was the best he'd ever written and it _was_ dark and brooding. Castle had written from the heart. He'd written it _for_ her since he couldn't explain any more clearly his feelings for her and his heartbreak at her decision to marry Josh. He used his ability to write a novel to tell her how he felt. He felt he was too late, that the 'die had been cast' and he'd rolled snake eyes.

In the book, Josh's character was a lawyer, not a doctor, and he traveled the country handling _pro bono_ social causes and he'd met Nikki Heat at a trial where she was the prosecution's star witness. He'd destroyed her testimony on cross-examination and later when she confronted him with his half-truths and outright lies, he'd laughed at her and asked her to dinner.

Dinner turned into breakfast and she spent more time with Ross Corbett and less and less with her shadow, finally becoming engaged. She didn't tell Rook. Rook found out about it when he caught their photograph and announcement on Page Six.

Castle had found out about it purely by accident and other than 'congratulations', he'd never brought it up and when others did, he either walked away or changed the subject or said nothing at all.

Castle had written the confrontation between Rook and Heat as a quiet but intense discussion in the Precinct break room without witnesses. He had accurately portrayed his interpretation of Kate's attitude toward 'their relationship' and stressed Rook's sense of betrayal. She'd never thought that Castle could put Rook's intense emotions into words but he had.

Rook's thoughts were Castle's and she got a unique insight into how his mind worked and just how badly she'd hurt him. Nikki Heat had distanced herself from Rook, ignoring everything that he meant to her, refusing to acknowledge her real feelings for him.

It took Rook's death to make Nikki Heat realize that her 'one and done' had been sitting beside her for three years and she'd taken him for granted, allowing them to become 'friends with benefits' until Corbett came along. Corbett was safe. He would give her the space she needed to pursue her career and he probably wouldn't spend a lot of time 'home' and that was fine with Nikki Heat. 'Home' was just someplace she kept her clothes, nothing more.

In the 'real world', it was Castle who began slowly withdrawing. At first she thought the distancing was a normal human response to the series of near-death experiences the pair had lived through. She shuddered when she recalled the cold from the freezer and how he'd tried so hard to keep her warm. When she left with Josh, she saw the look of despair on Castle's face but thought it was a physical response to almost freezing to death.

And after the bomb, when she'd turned away from him again, he finally admitted defeat and began to withdraw from her world.

She'd been too damned caught up in her own little drama to recognize it. She thought he'd finally realized that what she did was dangerous and that he had a daughter and mother to consider and was trying to remove himself from the situation without losing too much face. She'd assumed it was an ego thing but it wasn't his image he was trying to preserve. She could see now what everyone else had seen for the past year or more.

He loved her. He lost her. He wanted her to be happy but it was killing him by degrees to see her happy with another man. He was too much the noble gentleman to intrude upon her happiness and tell her how he felt so he tried to leave without out fuss or fanfare.

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><p>She remembered it was a Tuesday and the weather was nasty and she was angry with Josh because he was leaving again in two days for a month and she'd only just found out about it that morning.<p>

She'd confronted him, accused him of using his profession to avoid a true commitment and he'd simply told her that '_it's the life of a doctor and a doctor's wife. You should understand that, Katie, being a cop and all. The job comes first – always_.'

It was like she'd been blind and now she could see. She, and any children they might have, would always come in second. While she admired his commitment to his profession and sense of altruism, she hated it because it would always come first.

She wanted to be first. She wanted to be the wife and mother who would always come first before anything else. Kate knew marrying Josh Davidson was a horrible mistake and she was trying to figure out how to end it when Castle dropped his own bag of shit in her lap.

Kate noticed that when he got off the elevator he'd gone straight to Montgomery's office, knocked on the door and walked in and closed the door behind him. She could see him refuse to take the seat Captain Montgomery offered with a shake of his head and then hand him a white envelope. Montgomery read the single sheet of white paper and then glanced out the window at Beckett for a brief second before standing up and shaking Castle's hand.

A few words were exchanged and then Castle left the Captain's office, and walked back to the elevator and pushed the button to summon the car. He glanced over at her and she saw the same look on his face that he'd had the night of the 'big freeze' when she'd walked away from him and left with Josh. He turned away and jabbed at the button several times.

Ryan had watched the exchange in the office and alerted his partner. "Hey, Javi, Castle's leaving without even saying a word to us. What a rotten thing to do after three years."

"A man can only take so much before he breaks. I give him a lot of credit for hanging around this long. Man, after the mess with Demming you'd think she'd get a clue. I guess he'd have to be a murder victim for her to notice."

Kate had heard the exchange and grabbed her coffee cup and headed to the break room but changed direction at the last minute and walked quickly up to Castle who was desperately pushing the call button for the elevator.

"Going somewhere, Castle?" Her posture and tone said more than her words and Castle had finally had enough. He had done nothing wrong. He was not the one who'd turned away every time he got too close.

"I can't do this anymore, Detective. I appreciate your allowing me to shadow you for all these months but…" She interrupted him and her tone was caustic.

"Months? Try three years, Castle. Three years of my life spent in the company of a 3 year old in a 40 year old body. After all I've had to put up with, after all I've done for you, you slink out of Montgomery's office with your tail between your legs like some beaten dog and try to leave without even a wave of the hand?"

Her voice had gotten louder with each sentence and she moved closer to him, cutting him off from the elevator escape route.

"After all you've done for _me? _Are you _kidding_ me, Detective? Are you really that self-absorbed and narcissistic that you think I've hung around here because of the things you've done for _me__?"_

She snapped. It was all just too damned much to bear. She backhanded Castle across the face, knocking him back a few steps and accidentally cutting his cheek with her diamond engagement ring.

Esposito and Ryan were on their feet and running towards the arguing couple but it was Montgomery's voice that stopped her from following up with a deadly high kick to Castle's head.

"Beckett, stand down, damn you! Ryan, Esposito, escort Mr. Castle down to Dr. Parish and get that laceration tended to. Beckett, get your ass in my office!"

The elevator door opened and the two detectives looked at each other in shock. They could hear the voice of Roy Montgomery tearing huge chunks of skin off Beckett's back.

"What the hell possessed you to attack a man who has done so much for you and for this department? My God, Beckett, the man gave up three years of his life to sit beside you in that damned chair while you paraded a near-constant stream of men… Katherine Beckett, give me your service weapon and shield. I'm suspending you with pay pending the results of a disciplinary hearing into the events I just witnessed."

"Sir? You're suspending me for getting into an argument with _Castle_?"

"No, Detective Beckett, I'm suspending you for assaulting an innocent citizen and causing bodily harm to said citizen. I'm also going to request a psych evaluation. You've been through a horrendous series of events that would unhinge the strongest mind."

"A psych evaluation, Captain?"

"And may I remind you, _Detective_, that the man you just assaulted was by your side for every single minute of those events? Or had you forgotten that Richard Castle kept you alive in that freezer and you didn't even thank him? You just walked away with your doctor friend leaving him alone. He was with you when the bomb almost exploded? Do you remember Richard Castle now, Detective?'

"Sir, I – "

"The man loves you and you wonder why he's 'slinking away with his tail between his legs like some beaten dog'?Just how strong do you think he is? Just how much heartache can you expect the man to tolerate? He's quitting, not because he's afraid, but because he can't stand seeing you happy with any man who isn't him. Now, get out. The department will be in touch regarding the disciplinary hearing and your evaluation."

Esposito released the elevator door and as it closed he glanced at Castle who hadn't said a damned thing since Beckett hit him. Esposito and Ryan exchanged worried glances and Ryan said "We've got your back, bro, always" to Castle. Esposito nodded in agreement. Castle didn't acknowledge the comment other than nod slightly.

* * *

><p>Ryan and Esposito led Castle into Dr. Parish's work area and Javi said, "We've got a live one for ya, Lanie. Montgomery wants you to check him over and do something with the laceration on his face. Um, you might want to call Beckett when you're done with him. She'll need a friend."<p>

"Rick! What in the hell happened? Is Beckett okay?" She prattled on while she gently examined his cheek, tsk-tsk'ing when she saw how deep and ragged the laceration was.

"Lanie, Beckett's been suspended pending an inquiry. Um, Lanie, she's the one who did this to Rick. He turned in his letter and started to leave and Beckett stopped him and started in on him and he responded and she backhanded him with her left hand and I guess the ring got him good, huh?"

"_Kate_ did this? And she's been suspended?" She stopped talking and started gathering up her needles and silk. "Tell me what happened, Rick. Kate didn't do this, did she?"

After washing off the blood, she injected his face with several shots of a local anesthesia and waited until he was thoroughly numb before beginning her suturing.

"Rick, tell me what happened? You two, out! Doctor/patient confidentiality. Move it!" Lanie guided him down onto the work table and flipped on the big light. Castle grunted and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Sorry, Rick. You're the first patient I've had in a long time to complain about the bright light."

The two detectives left, wondering just what else could go wrong at the 12th Precinct. Esposito stopped Ryan just outside the door and then stepped to the side to eavesdrop unseen.

His mouth wasn't working right but he managed to get the message across. It was his version of events that would trump anything Montgomery did. He made a mental note to call the Mayor and grease the wheels that would protect Beckett.

"Detective Beckett was just showing me a self-defense move and I missed a critical block, Dr. Parish. It was unintentional. It was an accident. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I won't let this ruin her career. She's getting married and he'll be gone a lot. The job is all she'll have. Make sure that gets in the record, Dr. Parish, understand?"

"Okay, Rick. It's on the machine and I've turned it off. Tell me what really happened, okay? I'll need to know how to deal with Kate. I understand how you feel and none of us think any the less of you for finally giving up on her. She'll make her mistake and live with it. She's as stubborn as a mule sometimes but she accepted his proposal and she'll stand by him, no matter how damned wrong her decision is."

"Lanie, I just want Kate to be happy and if she's happy with him, I'm happy – really. I just can't sit here and watch it, that's all. I need to move on with my life. I'll miss this place and all of you. Especially you, Lanie. You were a good friend to me."

"I still am, Rick. Just don't write her off yet. There's still five months until the wedding. An awful lot can happen in five months."

"Five months? What happened to make her change the date?"

"She didn't change the date, he did. He's scheduled to speak at some medical convention and it conflicts with the wedding – so he changed it to some time – more convenient.

Castle was upset. His plan was now in the crapper. Five months was too long a wait. Alexis would be home from summer vacation and his plan had been to return in three months right after the wedding. Crap!


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you all for taking the time to read this. A lot of alerts and favorites. This is long and angsty but is necessary to set up the final few chapters.

Some of you think these two are out of character but you'll soon find out why they're the way they are. My Castle is not nearly as wimpy and limp-wristed as the one on the boob tube and Beckett is more human given all that's happened to her and the toll it's taken.

Thanks for reading and if I lose some of you, perhaps you'll reconsider in the future when you're bored enough.

I don't own _Castle - _I'm just using it to stave off terminal boredom myself. Sorry, Amanda.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Final Heat<strong>_ by Old Man

Chapter 4

The last chapter hopped around in time a lot so here's a place mark from the last chapter to begin reading this chapter in the story's 'now' time frame.

_She'd been too damned caught up in her own little drama to recognize it. She thought he'd finally realized that what she did was dangerous and that he had a daughter and mother to consider and was trying to remove himself from the situation without losing too much face. She'd assumed it was an ego thing but it wasn't his image he was trying to preserve. She could see now what everyone else had seen for the past year or more._

_He loved her. He lost her. He wanted her to be happy but it was killing him by degrees to see her happy with another man. He was too much the noble gentleman to intrude upon her happiness and tell her how he felt so he tried to leave without out fuss or fanfare._

* * *

><p>Kate Beckett's Apartment<br>8:30am

She had cried for the better part of an hour and dozed off and then awoke to a chilling epiphany.

The very fate she feared if she allowed Richard Castle to get too close, to breach her bastions and conquer her heart perhaps to cast her aside or worse, encapsulate her in his world never to breathe free again – she was _guaranteeing_ herself by marrying Josh Davidson, cardiac surgeon and self-anointed Savior of the Third World.

'_Josh accepted a speaking engagement even though he knew it would conflict with the wedding and so he did what he always did – he made the world adapt to __his __expectations. He practically demanded that she keep her appointment with that harpy and her pins and needles but __he__ couldn't even show up because __he__ had something else to do.'_

Kate set Castle's book aside and began stripping off her clothes as she made her way to the shower.

'_What was it Lanie said when I told her I had to rush to make the fitting appointment? Oh yeah, _Castle would have understood. Castle would have bought the damned dress shop and told them to change their hours. _He would have, too.'_

* * *

><p>Castle's Loft<br>8:30am

Alexis Castle stepped out of the cab and slipped the cabbie the fare and a $10 tip following her father's admonition to 'always reward service'. She glanced at her watch and marveled that 6 short hours ago she was boarding the 'red eye' from LAX to LaGuardia. She didn't miss L.A, and, despite her being her mother, she was really glad that Meredith took a role in a movie being filmed in Africa. Meredith was even worse to manage than her father.

"Hullo, Miz Cazzle". Piotr tipped an imaginary hat and tried to take her wheeled suitcases but Alexis held firm.

"That's okay, Piotr, and for the zillionth time, it's Alexis. How long have you been opening up my doors, tying my shoes, putting band aids on my skinned knees, carrying my…"

"It would not be _kulturny_ to be so familiar. And it has been 12 years and 3 months, Miz Cazzle."

"Well, I demand that you call me Alexis when you dance with me at my wedding, agreed?"

"You – you are marrying? Does your father know of this? Who is he? What does he do? Does he know that your father is wealthy and merely wanting to wet his beak in his fortune?"

"Whoa, whoa, Piotr. I meant sometime in the future. Oh, no, no marriage in my near future. I'm starting school at Princeton and then I have plans that don't include a husband. I just meant that I'd like you to at least think about calling me Alexis at my wedding."

_'Wow! He's worse than my Dad about who I date. Marriage? Not very damned likely. I have plans.'_

"Your father is not in residence, Miz Cazzle. He had a car take him to catch a train for Washington, District of Columbia. He will not be back for three days I think."

She smiled at him. Piotr Rudensky took information in, processed it and then recited it in the most exacting way. For example, there were two Washingtons, the state and the nation's capital, and his little speech eliminated any doubt as to her Dad's destination. Ex- GRU operatives were very precise.

"Thank you. I'll just go up and unpack and then sleep for a week. The Red Eye is a killer on jet lag."

"I will be here until 5 if you require anything." He held the door open for her as he had for 12 years and then followed her to the elevator and pushed the button and waited until the car arrived and she was safely aboard before returning to his post.

* * *

><p>The loft was quiet and she knew she was alone. She would have felt her father or grandmother if they were here. She took out her cell phone and called her Dad.<p>

"Hey, Pumpkin. You just getting in from some party or something? It's just past 4, Alexis, and I hope you were with your mother." He thought she was still in California.

"No, it's half past eight and I'm in the kitchen looking for something to eat. Dad, what have you been living on? There aren't any take out cartons and the place is _clean!_"

"I've been working and I spent the last two months out at the Hamptons and that explains the lack of food and filth. I finished _Final Heat_ and Gina has it and it's in print. I'm going to D.C. to investigate another potential project. So why, daughter dearest, are you home alone in New York? Your mother didn't run off with the pool boy again, did she, Alexis?"

"No. She accepted a role that was filming in some remote spot and I opted to come home and spend my last free summer before adulthood with my Pops. When are you coming back, Dad? I've missed you."

"Thursday afternoon unless there's some problem with the forms or permission slips I had to have approved. Alexis, why don't you hop on the train and join me? We can tour the capital and see the new exhibits at the Smithsonian."

"Dad, you finished a book already? You hadn't even thought about a 4th book when I left. Wait! Wait! You actually finished a Nikki Heat novel in the time I've been gone? That's – I was going to say 'awesome' but I think I'd be wrong. What's up, Dad?"

She thought back to her conversation with Gina, her ex-stepmother and all around dragon lady but who was useful in ferreting out information on her father's activities when he went into hibernation and wrote.

"I'll tell you what. You come down and join me and I'll tell you everything but only if you join me, Snookums. Deal?"

"Dad, you only call me pet names when you're deflecting. What don't you want me to know? Daaaaad?" She always drew out the word when she was suspicious of something or worried about something. She was both in this case.

"Well, like I said, I went to the Hamptons and the inspiration just hit me and I sat down and wrote and wrote and…"

"Okay, so you wrote. Tell me about the book. I don't like the title. It's not something to be found in the middle of a series."

"That's because it's the last – or final – book in the Nikki Heat saga. I grew bored with her and I found the character of Rook to be written too badly to restructure as he should have been so I killed him off and Nikki and Corbett rode off into the sunset and married. I learned my lesson with Derek Storm, Pumpkin. I can always resurrect Nikki Heat if needs be, although putting poor Rook together again might be more than even I can manage."

"Dad, that's a crock and you know it. Do you really expect me to believe that you ended…something happened, didn't it? Tell me, Daddy. You know I won't judge you."

He laughed bitterly. She was the only one in his life who didn't judge him except maybe his mother and that's only because she lived in a glass house herself.

"Come on down, sweetie. I could use a friendly face. I'll spill my guts over pizza when I meet you. Text me the schedule and I'll pick you up. Later, gator."

"Bye, Dad. Love you."

"Love you, too, Alexis. Make sure you're careful on the train and wait for me at the station. You cannot be too careful out there amongst the politicians."

"You're a nut, you know that? I'll be careful but what happens if some handsome Democratic staffer should come along and sweep me off my feet?"

"Yuck! I'd rather you played violin in a – "

"Dad! I know how that sentence ends and it's disgusting! You know I'd never date a Democrat. Not when there are so many interesting Green Party possibilities."

"That's it! I'm sending you to a damned convent. Don't bother trying to wheedle your way out of it, either. You've gone too far this time, Alexis."

"Watch for my text, Daddy."

"Always, sweetie."

* * *

><p>Alexis went into her bedroom to get online and reserve a seat on the 2pm train to Washington. She paid for it with her own personal American Express Card that her father had given her when she left to visit her mom.<p>

Alexis had just stepped out of the shower when she heard the 'house phone' ringing and ran to answer it.

"Hello, Piotr. You rang?"

"Miz Cazzle, a Detective Beckett would like to speak with you or your father. I informed her that Mr. Cazzle was not in residence. You will speak with her?" He was always protective of the nicest tenants and the Castle family was at the top of his list.

"Send her up, Piotr. I'll unlock the door for her. I just got out of the shower and need to dress. Tell her not to bother knocking. I'll be right down."

* * *

><p>Beckett almost left without seeing Alexis. She wanted to see, no, she <em>needed<em> to see Castle the elder, not his daughter but she couldn't think of any quick reason not to speak with her. She liked Alexis and was embarrassed that she might know about the Battle of the Bullpen.

Her therapy sessions with the department shrink were 'progressing satisfactorily' according to Dr. Palmer. She knew police work. She'd worked her way through college as a patrol officer in Philadelphia.

'_Detective, the altercation you had with Mr. Castle does not appear in your records because – it never happened. Well, okay, it happened, but not the way you think it did. Mr. Castle's statement boils down to '_she was showing me a self-defense move and I missed a block and she clocked me. It was an unfortunate accident that occurred on my final day of consulting'_. There is nothing here to explain it as anything other than what Mr. Castle described.'_

She remembered being stunned and ashamed when she heard the 'official' version of what happened. It was totally unexpected. Why had he protected her when all she wanted to do was hurt him?

'Detective, I want the truth. I don't buy the bullshit Castle read into the record. He should have hung you out to dry but he didn't. Can you tell me why?'

They'd spent several sessions talking about 'Castle & Beckett' but she still didn't understand why he'd done it. She knew 'why' but not 'why'. He didn't want her to lose her job. That was the first 'why' but she had refused to admit to herself the reason behind the second 'why'. Until she read his last book in the Nikki Heat series.

The elevator opened and she walked down the hallway to the loft's ornate door and opened it and stepped into Castle's lair. Alexis called down that she was dressing and to make herself at home.

She made a beeline for Castle's office to snoop but mostly because she could surround herself with him. Right then she needed the comfort that being around his things would bring her.

It looked – clean, Spartan, utilitarian – as if awaiting a new occupant. The "I love me" wall was clean and freshly painted. Gone were the photographs from the 12 Precinct and the Nikki Heat launch parties, the book posters, the framed reviews and other Heat memorabilia. It almost looked like someone was – moving out or perhaps moving on and dumped an unpleasant history.

Thinking like the detective she was, Kate checked the trashcan. Eureka! She found several legal pads with scenes from possible novels as well as a number of sharpened pencils. She remembered that he told her once that he wrote his death scenes in pencil on a legal pad because the act was too intimate in his mind to write about it in such a cavalier manner using a computer.

But it was the thing in the bottom of the can that caught her attention and caused an involuntary sob to escape. It was a framed snapshot of her and Castle in better days. He looked so happy and she was looking at him with a genuine smile. He'd apparently thrown it down with enough force to shatter the glass and break the frame. She gingerly brushed glass off the photograph.

And that's how Alexis Castle found Katherine Beckett, in tears and staring at a photograph of two people who looked perfect together.

"Detective Beckett? Is something wrong? I – Oh, no, not again." She took in the room and then looked at Beckett.

"Oh, no! He killed off Nikki Heat? He did this the last time he ended a series. He did this with Derek Storm. He emptied the room out and had it repainted and he put his treasures related to the Storm series in storage and started over. It's how he separates himself from the 'emotional pain'. It's a typical Richard Castle drama queen move."

"I guess he felt some 'treasures' were best thrown away. And it was Rook he killed off, Alexis, not Nikki." She handed Alexis the photograph hoping she'd return it. She planned on keeping it if she could.

Alexis looked at the photograph and ran a fingertip over her father's face. She knew that look.

"Dad's in Washington getting permission for something to do with his next series. What happened between you two, Detective? He quit going to the Precinct and no one ever called about a body. I knew I never should have gone to California. He needed me and he was all alone."

"Something happened two months ago, shortly after the freezer incident, and I haven't seen him since." She was twisting her engagement ring nervously and Alexis saw the movement and the ring. Beckett didn't know how much she knew about their near-death experiences and so she was deliberately vague.

"I see congratulations are in order, Detective. Who's the lucky man?" She knew about the freezer incident. She didn't know what exactly happened but that and whatever occurred after he'd ordered her and her grandmother to the Hamptons had hurt him terribly and he'd spent several days in bed covered in blankets with the heat turned up to near-stifling levels.

"Ah, a guy I've been seeing. He's a doctor and, well, we haven't set a date yet – not really. He's a very busy man and travels a lot and he's hardly ever around. But I came here hoping to see your father but since he's out, I'll just slip out. It was nice seeing you again, Alexis."

"Detective, here's your photo. Keep it. You two looked very happy. I know Dad can be a handful but I hope you can forgive whatever he's done. He misses you, and…"

Kate whirled around and Alexis could see the unshed tears in her eyes.

She almost whispered her answer to Alexis. "It's what _I've_ done that's so unforgivable. I ignored what everyone else saw. I chose to ignore it. I was afraid of it. I ignored him when he needed me most. I ignored the man who ran into my burning apartment to find me, who held me while we were freezing to death and saved my life. I turned my back on him then and again later. Twice he saved my life, our lives. Twice I denied him what he needed. Twice I left with someone else."

"It took you two months to realize that?" Alexis was beginning to feel the famous Castle temper flaring. She liked Beckett but she loved her Dad. Beckett must have hurt him so badly that he removed himself from her life and then killed 'himself' off in a novel, symbolically ending the relationship.

Kate nodded, unable to trust herself to speak for a few seconds. "Yeah, pathetic, huh?"

She looked at the redhead and saw something she'd never expected to see on her face. Contempt.

She brushed by Kate and sat down in her father's chair.

"Yeah, Detective Beckett, it surely is. I'll tell my Dad you stopped by. You know the way out."

* * *

><p>Alexis sat at her father's desk and quietly seethed, her anger at the woman her Dad had come to idolize and immortalize roiling just under the surface of her emotions.<p>

She heard the loft door close and really looked around the office. She saw the stack of promotional posters and publisher's advanced copies of _Final Heat_ in the corner. She scooped up a copy of the novel and then a poster and walked up to her room.

She unrolled the poster and held it out at arm's length. She gasped and then smiled. She recognized his style and confirmed that her gifted parent had painted the master for the poster himself since she saw the very small "RAC" signature. It was Beckett, and he'd captured her in a way only he could see but that others would appreciate. There was something about the poster…

She tried to pick off a flaw on Beckett's cheek and then realized it was a bloody teardrop. Now she knew she had to read the entire novel before arriving in DC. She would have questions and he would, for once, explain _everything_ that had happened since she'd left.


	5. Chapter 5

This one is brief since it's a connector. Next one will be longer, I promise.

I don't own _Castle._ I just use the characters to fill retirement time. Hate dominos and shuffleboard...lol

* * *

><p><em>Final Heat<em> by Oldest Man

Chapter 5

12th Precinct

Kate leaned against her desk and stared at the latest murder board. They had nothing to go on except the physical evidence found at the crime scene – a hotel room – and it was minimal at best.

Their victim was found several days after his murder by hotel management who opened the room after their guest had not answered phone calls to his room nor offered to provide a credit card to cover his extended stay. The door was secured from the inside and the air conditioning had been turned down to the lowest setting. The body, although in rigor, had not begun to decay and thus there'd been no smell to attract attention earlier.

Lanie had been unable to give a more precise time of death as other than 'at least 36 but not more than 48 hours' prior to discovery. The cause of death was a large hole in the man's forehead that Lanie confirmed was left by a .45 caliber bullet that had been dug out of the padded headboard of the bed.

There was no murder weapon left at the scene and the room had no other exit – not even a sliding glass door to a balcony. The windows were not designed to be opened – ever.

She was stumped. Not for the first or even hundredth time she caught herself wishing that Castle was here to make some wild scenario that would ultimately provide enough substance to enable one of them to solve this crime.

Esposito was beside her, mimicking her stance and her thoughts. "Man, Castle would have had a field day with this one." He blanched when he felt her shift and walk closer to the board. No one had mentioned Castle in her presence since the 'incident' although everyone knew that it was his absence that was responsible for her incredibly crappy mood.

"Yeah, he would." She let her mind wander, free associating like she knew Castle did when he wrote his complicated and convoluted plot lines but it didn't help.

"Have you read _Final Heat_ yet, Javi?" She rarely used his first name and never used the diminutive. That surprised him and he chuckled.

"Yeah, had to. Lanie was crying when I went to pick her up and when I asked her why she told me to quit being such a punk and 'read his damned book'. So I did. Gotta admit, the man had a way with words, Beckettt."

Kate turned to face him and he almost shrank back from the look of intensity on her face. "He's not dead, Exposito, he's just gone, that's all. Quit using the past tense."

* * *

><p>Union Station<br>Washington, D.C.

"Dad!" Alexis spotted her father standing on the platform looking for her. She'd sat in the last car to escape the noise and conversation of the commuter cars so she could read her father's novel and so she'd gotten off near the end of the train."

She ran toward her father's outstretched arms and threw herself into his hug. "I'm so sorry, Daddy. I never should have left you. They always leave you and now I'm one of them. You were hurting and I left you alone. I'm so sorry, Dad. I was being selfish and – "

"Hush, Alexis. You aren't selfish. You didn't know, that's all. Now, tell me how your mom is? Did you have fun? Who's the man of the week in Meredith's life?" He loved his little girl and – not so little any more – he wished the feeling he got from hugging her could be stored and released whenever he felt alone or sad. He'd feel better instantly.

She pushed herself away and started to lay one of her patented 'Daddy's Little Girl' kisses on his cheek when she saw the scar and gasped.

"Dad, your cheek! What happened? Did you hurt yourself in the Hamptons?"

He gave her the official line. He'd used it so many times that he almost believed it himself.

"It was a freak accident at the 12th on my last day. I was clowning around with Beckett, y'know, sparring and I missed a critical block and she caught me with her engagement ring. I think it gives me character, don't you?"

"I saw her earlier today, Dad. She came to the loft to see you and I'd just hung up the phone from talking with you. I'd just gotten out of the shower and I told her I'd be right down and to make herself at home. I found her in your office staring at a photograph of you two. She was crying and she looked so miserable."

She deliberately didn't mention the ring she'd seen. She wouldn't bring it up. She'd let him bring it up if he even mentioned it at all.

"She has a hard and demanding job, Pumpkin. She was probably frustrated about a case and wanted one of my off-the-wall theories to make her feel better, that's all. I was their court jester, nothing more."

"Dad, you were more than that. You were an integral part of their team. So quit treating me like I'm a child and tell me the damned truth! You're hurting and she's hurting and I can't help but think if you just talked to her – "

"What? That she'd have some incredible epiphany and dump the Universal Savior and come to me? No. Never going to happen. Kate Beckett would _never_ say 'yes' to a marriage proposal unless she was dead certain that he was her 'one and done'. She doesn't think that way. When she commits, it's forever. Now, we'll speak no more of it, understand?"

"But Dad – " She wanted to make him feel better, to give him some sense of hope but he wouldn't listen.

"Alexis, I don't want to talk about it anymore, understand? Cut me some slack here, will ya? It's not the end of the world. I'll bounce back. Besides, I've got a slew of money and I don't need to write novels anymore. I can do whatever I want and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Alexis, I'm going abroad for a while. I leave next Friday and we need to figure out what to do with you."

"I can go with you. This is our last summer before I become old and decrepit and go off to Princeton. I want to spend it with you – and maybe Grams but definitely with you, Dad. Please?"

Castle wanted to spend all he time he could with his daughter before he lost her to the real world but he had a moral obligation to follow through on his promise to himself and to his publisher and the Army. He compromised.

"I'll make you a deal, Alexis, and the terms are non-negotiable so don't go all lawyerly on me and try and find or take advantage of loopholes. Agreed?"

"Not until I hear the deal, Daddy Dearest. I've been around the block enough to know not to agree to anything until I've heard the deal and seen the contract."

"Who taught you that? Your wicked ex-stepmother, Gina?"

"Nope. You did."

"Oh. Well, we'll discuss the bare bones over pizza. I'm starved."

"We'll hammer out an agreement over pizza, Dad. No postponing or deflecting. I have a legal pad in my bag and we'll draft up our contract."

"Sheesh, not even in college yet and you're spouting off like a two-bit store-front lawyer. I'm impressed."

"You should be. You paid enough to get me into the best schools. Some of the crap they spouted was bound to stick."

He laughed and hugged her again. She was definitely adopted. She had to be. '_Meredith isn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier and I'm certainly not all that smart. Must be a genetic fluke or something._ His daughter was amazing.

Two hours later they had their agreement – in writing. Alexis would accompany him when he visited military hospitals and talked to the wounded soldiers and Marines (without her in attendance; she could spend those hours shopping or doing whatever) but once he headed out to more dangerous locations she would join her grandmother and work on her tan and whatever else she wanted to do.

"There, Dad. That wasn't so hard, was it? Now, I want to talk about _Final Heat_ and what's next. I have to say, the cover art was incredible. You captured Beckett in all her glory. What happened to the original? In storage?"

"No, I sent it to her. Something like an early wedding present. So, are you ready to leave now? It's getting late and I have an early appointment."

"You're deflecting again, Father Dear. We'll talk about it in the cab and in the room. I have questions and I'd like answers. Please, Dad, I'm only trying to help – "

"I thought we agreed that further discussion wasn't an option? I should have written that down, too."

* * *

><p>12th Precinct<p>

Bull Pen  
>Two days later<p>

"Man, she's going to rip your balls off if she finds out you asked Castle for help. You know how she feels. Therapy or not, she'll hurt you, mano."

"Hey, all I did was call the guy and say hello. He asked how things were going and if we had any interesting cases. I couldn't lie to the guy. I told him we were stumped and that Beckett was getting really frustrated. He asked for details and I gave them to him."

"How are you going to explain this sudden burst of intellect? You know she's going to want to know how you came up with it."

"I'll tell her what Castle told me – saw it on CSI. But first I'm going to go down and see our resident M.E. and see if she has access to one of those fancy ballistic dummies like the TV guys do. Gotta build the back story, Ryan. It's what Castle would do. Get the ducks in order then spring it on the Boss. She's less likely to kill me if the tools to solving her crime are at her fingertips."

"It's a good thing Castle isn't here. His ego would inflate and his head would explode!" Ryan exchanged a high-five with his partner and then they heard it.

The voice of doom.

"And just _what_ would make Castle's head explode, Esposito? Care to share?"

Esposito quickly explained his idea and most importantly, the _original _source - from CSI on TV.

"That's actually a pretty good idea. See what Lanie has down in her dungeon. Maybe we'll get a break on this case."


	6. Chapter 6

This is the last of the angst. I promise. Everything is set to start the ball rolling. 10k hits on my first story. I don't have a point of comparision but it tickles me anyway.

Thanks for the reviews and the favs and the alerts. I hope y'all enjoy it.

I don't own _Castle._ Never will either.

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><p><em>Final Heat<em> by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 6<p>

12th Precinct  
>Lanie's office<p>

"Javier, you know what Beckett would do if she even suspected that you contacted Castle. I don't know how she'd do it but you'd be back in uniform walking a beat."

"Hey, he's my friend. I can't call a friend and say 'Hi'? It's been more than two months since the Battle and I didn't want him to think I'd blown smoke up his butt when I told him I'd always have his back."

Lanie sighed and then pushed her way past Esposito and back into the storage closet. She thought she remembered seeing a ballistic dummy back there when she'd first reported to the Precinct but now she couldn't find the – there it was.

"Javier, get your fine butt in here and help me manhandle this dummy out onto the floor. It weighs a ton!"

* * *

><p>Beckett walked down to see what was taking Esposito so long. How long did it take to find out if Parish had a dummy or not? She chuckled when she thought '<em>Esposito's no dummy but she definitely has him by the… and I'd better not find them in the damned supply closet doing the nasty!'<em>

She heard giggling from the supply closet and opened the door fully and was surprised to see Esposito lying on the floor with a large manikin atop him and Lanie busting a gut trying not to laugh.

"Lanie, is this some consequence of a Truth or Dare game? I mean, really, a sex doll?"

"Get this damned thing off me, Lanie. It stinks and it weighs a ton. And it's not funny at all. Call Ryan to help. I can't believe you dropped it on me!

"Well, one of its clammy hands found it's way somewhere it shouldn't and it shocked me and I dropped it. Just be glad it wasn't _your_ hand, Detective Esposito, or I'd be filing a sexual harassment complaint instead of trying to help you out." Lanie didn't want Beckett thinking that anything was going on. She didn't know that everyone knew since Esposito had told Ryan and he had told… and so everyone knew.

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><p>Two hours later the team and Dr. Parish were again at the crime scene only this time with Waldo the dummy and a bunch of fiberglass rods to simulate the path of the bullet. Shortly thereafter they had their first real hard evidence. The shooter had been in an AC duct. Ryan had pulled off the grill and found a .45 caliber shell casing in the ductwork. ESI was called in and their team leader grimly looked at the narrow ductwork and then back at the detectives.

"You _do_ know that we have minimum height and weight requirements for the unit, don't you? My smallest woman might just be able to squeeze in there."

"Go find a little person then. I'm sure one of them would volunteer. I can't believe you haven't got a rolodex full of possible people for special needs." Lanie had a comeback for all occasions.

He walked away grumbling about smart-assed detectives who never got their hands dirty but made some calls.

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><p>The Mall<br>Washington, DC

Alexis was waiting for her father to finish up his meetings and then, by God, the two of them were going to sit down and have a Daughter to Father talk about this insane idea he had. She admired and respected his desire to 'give something back' to those who often gave it all and she looked forward to going to Europe with him.

It was the 2nd leg of the trip that she objected to. She saw no reason at all why her father, a writer, should feel some obligation to visit the field hospitals in combat zones. Why couldn't he wait until they were brought back to the States before visiting them? Why was it so damned important to him?

It wasn't like he was some famous celebrity who could 'entertain the troops' on USO tours. Toby Keith and others did it regularly. He wasn't going on a tour group. He was going alone and to top it off, he had some cockamamie idea of 'embedding himself' with some unit and tagging along and getting background for a new book series that honored the men and women who fought their country's wars.

She had a bad feeling about this and she was desperately trying to come up with reasons why he shouldn't go that he couldn't disagree with. He was a reasonable man and so she was looking for reasonable objections.

She felt her cell vibrate and she drew it out and smiled at Esposito's picture and took the call.

"Hey, Detective Esposito. My Dad's at some meeting at the Pentagon and I'm waiting for him to join me. We'll be back in New York tomorrow."

"Yeah, that's great, Lexie. Just tell your Dad thanks for me. The ballistic dummy was genius. We got our first break in the case. If he gets a minute, would you ask him to call me? I need to pick his brain."

"Sure. Say, do you have a few minutes? I need a guy's perspective on a problem."

They chatted for a few more minutes and then Esposito said 'the Dragon Lady's on the prowl. Be good, Lexie,' and hung up. She just laughed. Dr. Parish was hardly the 'Dragon Lady'. She thought about it for a minute and then frowned.

He meant Beckett.

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><p>12th Precinct<p>

"Since when, Detective Second Grade Javier Esposito, do you give advice to the lovelorn? And why is Alexis Castle calling _you_, might I ask?" She had her arms crossed under her breasts – a sure sign of a defensive posture although on her it could mean she was trying not to strike out at him.

"I called her to have her thank her father for his insights. I know you're pissed at him and now at me but damn it, Kate, we're one step closer to solving this case because of him. And Lexie asked me for a favor and I was happy to oblige. So send me back to the streets in uniform, I don't care. I won't turn my back on him just to keep peace in the bullpen."

Kate was gnawing at her lower lip and trying so hard not to ask Esposito how Castle was doing and what favor he'd done for Alexis. She missed him and she wanted so badly to apologize but lost her chance.

"Tell Alexis I said 'Hi' the next time you talk to her." She turned on her heel and went back down to the M.E.'s dungeon. She had need of a friend.

Esposito blew out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Now he needed to get together with Ryan and Lanie and figure out the solutions to Lexie's problems. He admired and respected Richard Castle and his latest project to give something back increased it dramatically. He just didn't believe that Castle belonged out among combat troops in a war zone, no matter what the President chose to call the fighting.

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><p>The Mall<br>Washington, D.C.

Alexis Castle sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial not far from where Martin Luther King gave his famous speech. She tried to imagine a million people standing around the reflecting pool and listening all those years ago but couldn't bring her mind into focus.

Esposito said he'd call back before too long with the team's suggestions and so she waited patiently for his call. She loved her father more than anything else in the world but sometimes she wanted to grab his ear and drag his juvenile carcass into the real world. He was 39, not 19. Sure, he was physically fit but he was her Dad and she didn't know how she'd deal with losing him to some wild assed idea.

Following Beckett and the guys had proven dangerous enough but to go out with soldiers who didn't know him, who didn't love him, who didn't care if he lived or died, was insane and she'd told him and he just poo-poo'ed her concerns.

'_Pumpkin, you worry waaay too much for someone so young. You'll get wrinkles and no one wants to marry a girl who looks like a dried up prune. I've been through some hairy things with Bec – with the team from the 12__th__ and I've always come home to you and I'll be back this time, too. I know my limitations and I've learned that self-reliance is the key to survival. I'll build walls around me and nothing will ever hurt me again.'_

She knew he was talking about Beckett when he said 'limitations', 'self-reliance' and 'walls' and that he would never be hurt again. Beckett had hurt him terribly and although she didn't know the details, she did know her father. How far would he go to get away from the source of his pain?

For just a moment the sun was obscured by a cloud and she shivered in the sudden temperature change. How far would he go? Afghanistan? Did he have a subconscious death wish? Was he looking to escape his heartache like Rook did?

A shadow fell over her and she looked up and saw the outline of a man backlit by the late afternoon sun – her father.

She leaped off the steps and into his arms. "Daddy, don't leave me. Don't go. She's not worth dying over. Please, Daddy, please stay home."

Castle was taken by surprise and the impact of his daughter almost knocked him down. She had her arms around his neck and was squeezing so hard that it hurt to breathe. It broke his heart a little more to know that he was causing her such heartache.

"Hey, it's going to be fine, I promise. You worry too much. Remember what I told you about wrinkly women ending up old maids? I'm looking forward to spoiling the hell out of my grandchildren so I wish you'd quit worrying and trust me just a little?"

"I trust you, Dad. It's those bastards on the other side I don't trust. And I know you. You'll find a way to get into trouble over there and no one will care. Don't' go. I'm begging you. Please give up this idiotic notion that you have to give something back. Wasn't almost freezing to death enough? Wasn't almost being atomized by a terrorist bomb enough? Don't turn your back on me, Daddy, like Beckett did to you when I need you most!"

She'd pulled out all the stops. Esposito had told her about the freezer and then, swearing her to secrecy, about the terrorist bomb and how her Dad and Beckett had disarmed it at the last possible second.

He untangled himself from her clinging arms and held her at arm's length by her shoulders.

"This isn't about me and Beckett, Alexis. It's never been about me and Beckett. It was always just _me_. I thought…I was wrong. What I felt, she didn't. She's engaged and she's marrying her true love. It's over. Hell, Alexis it never _was_. I saw things I wanted to see that were just figments of my overactive imagination."

"But Dad – "

"Alexis Castle, we have a deal. I'm moving on and this is the path I've chosen to follow. If I wanted to pull a Rook on the world, I'd just stay in New York and walk through Central Park alone some night. More people are hurt in New York in a week than – no. No more talking. It's done and life goes on. I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat."

She knew that tone of voice. She heard it when he ended it with Gina. She heard it when he spoke of Beckett just now. It was the tone that said 'I'm done with this'.

* * *

><p>12th Precinct<br>Morgue

"Lanie, what am I going to do?" Beckett was leaning against a gurney with a fresh customer for Lanie's ministrations.

"You need to get your head out of your ass – that's what you need to do. You need to decide. Josh or Castle. It's simple. Hell, flip a coin. I've listened to you go on about Castle for three years, Kate Beckett, and you never did one thing I'd suggested. Not one. So why should I bother myself with your little daytime dramas? Choose one and live with it. Life is all about choices, so live a little and choose. But whatever you do, live with it."

"I don't know what to do, that's the point. Josh is safe and he doesn't smother me. Hell, he'd have to be here to do that."

"Stop right there. See, that's what pisses me off about you, Beckett. You don't see what's right in front of you. Josh is 'safe'? What the hell does that mean? He doesn't smother you? Ha! It's all about him. What's important in his life. He doesn't compromise, he makes you compromise. Changing the wedding date give you a clue? Remember how you found out about it? And where is he now and how much notice did you get? Oh, right, like the day before…"

"I get your point, Lanie, but he's…"

"He's not Rick Castle. Castle always put you first. Always. Your problem, Katherine Beckett, is that you're afraid of Rick Castle and you're comfortable with Josh because you can always count on him to do what's right – for him. He's predictable and you like that. You'll just move your life around to accommodate his until finally there's no life of yours left. Now Castle, on the other hand – "

"It's not as bad as that. We'll have time together and it's that time that's important. He has an important job and he's very good at what he does. He saves lives. And I like predictable. Marriage is all about compromises, Lanie."

"You better look up the definition of 'compromise', Detective Beckett, because you have no frikkin' idea what it means. Now, unless you have something else to whine about, I have fresh meat on the table and you're putting me behind schedule."

Beckett left the morgue and then the building. She had an appointment with her therapist and she finally had something solid to discuss.


	7. Chapter 7

I considered ending it here, leaving you all to finish the story in your own minds but I like this and have some ideas I want to explore in my own special OMAR - Oldest Man's Alternate Reality so I'm going to continue.

I don't own _Castle._ Writing is more satisfying than shuffle board or canasta or all the other old person's activities here at Shady Rest Home for the Old and Decrepit.

Thanks for all the reviews and alerts. 12,595 hits so far. I guess that's good, right? Right?

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><p><em><span>Final Heat<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 7

Harbison Medical Plaza  
>NYC, NY<p>

"Let me recap the past hour, Kate. You have two men in your life. Each loves you in different ways. The one is strong, has a crappy history with relationships, anxious to please and was totally committed to you while the other is – "

"Strong? I never said he was strong. Headstrong, maybe, but not strong in the sense that he has the strength I need – "

"Kate, this isn't about you, not anymore. It's about them and your involvement is simply to point your finger at one or the other and mentally say 'I chose you'. As for what you need, you've already decided – at least insofar as you're still wearing his ring, right?"

Kate had developed a bad habit, a tell, when thinking about something personal such as Josh or Rick Castle or both of them or whenever she thought about the upcoming wedding. Her therapist had noticed it and tracked it in their sessions – it was an indicator of her indecision and personal struggle.

Kate let go of the ring as if it had suddenly become white hot. She looked up, startled, at the doctor.

"If you'd come to a decision other than the one you've already made, you wouldn't be wearing his ring. It's a beautiful ring but it's more of a symbol to you, isn't it?

She nodded, not really answering her therapist's question but more acknowledging her inner conversation. If she loved Josh and not Castle then why did she think about Castle so damned much? Why did he occupy her thoughts more than the man she was going to marry? When she thought of Josh it was almost always with a sense of irritation. When she thought about Castle she always ended up feeling a sense of loss and regret.

"Yeah, it's a symbol. A heavy symbol of how rigid my life is going to become when I marry Josh. His life will dictate the pace of my own. I don't know if I can deal with losing that much of my independence."

"Okay, and what about if you were with Castle? Would your life be any different?"

"Oh, hell yeah! Life with Castle would be just one big party but I'm not the party girl type. I like staying in and watching TV or just having a family movie night. I like waking up to pancakes and a quick snarky bout of who said what. I want a loving family that sits down and eats together, plays together and begrudges the world's reality when it gets in the way of that life."

"Kate, you just described what you told me life was like when you stayed with Castle until you found an apartment."

The ring she'd been twisting and turning slipped off her finger and fell to the carpeted floor.

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><p>12th Precinct<p>

It was a different Kate Beckett who bounced through the bullpen and sat at her desk. She took out her cell and hit a speed dial she wasn't certain she'd ever use again.

It rang straight through to voicemail and she left a short message and a request and then hung up.

Going down her contact list she called another number.

"Silhouettes, may I help you?"

"Yes, this is Katherine Beckett – "

"Oh, yes, Miss Beckett. You'll have to arrange to be here by 4pm tomorrow for the final fitting. Please try to be on time for a change."

"You can take that damned overpriced rag and stuff it in a trash bag and throw it out. And for the record, it's _Detective_ Beckett. Wait! Send me the dress and your bill. I may have a use for it if things go as planned. Have a really shitty day, you pompous old witch!"

Beckett blew a loose curl out of her eyes and started to giggle. Jesus, but that felt so damned good. She spun around on her chair and caught Esposito's eye. He looked shocked and was trying to get Ryan's attention but he was on his cell with Jenny.

"What do we have on the victim's family, and where are we on getting ESU into the ductwork?"

Esposito smiled. The Dragon Lady was gone. Now if they could just get Castle to change his plans maybe…

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><p>Amtrak between Washington and New York<br>Club car

Castle looked at his daughter who sat across the table from him and periodically glared at him and then went back to whatever she was doing on her laptop. Yesterday had been anything but the pleasant day he'd envisioned.

Yesterday he broke his daughter's heart and while it wasn't his intention, certainly not, it had been the result of actions he took. Words have consequences and hers surely did. He hadn't slept at all, playing her words over and over in his mind, knowing there was nothing he could say other than 'OK, I'll stay,' that would make her feel better. And he couldn't do that.

He cleared his throat and got her attention.

"Alexis, we'll have time together in Europe and then you and your grandmother can spend a few weeks together and I'll be home by Christmas and we'll all go somewhere, OK? I have to do this, Lex. Please try to understand."

"I don't understand but then I have no choice, do I? You're bound and determined to go off on some great adventure you might not come back from. What'll happen to me and Grams if you… if something happens to you? Have you thought about that?"

"My affairs are in order. Neither of you will be thrown out into the street and I'm sure your grandmother and you will continue living the lives you've each planned. Pumpkin, look at me. I'm not immortal. I'm going to die someday. We all are. I won't go easily, believe me. I have way too much I've left undone to die now. And I want those grandchildren – just not right away, okay? I'm not ready to be 'Grandpa Castle' and your grandmother – well, I think she'd disown you. Imagine her a great grandmother?"

He laughed at the image of shock and horror that would cover his mother's face when she got the news. She'd been 18 when she brought him into the world and been a grandmother at his age. Suddenly it wasn't so funny.

"Alexis, you will not be going to Princeton. I think a nice all-girls's school in the Swiss Alps is more appropriate. Someplace where men are only allowed in when they drop off or pick up their daughter."

Her phone vibrated and she looked at the caller ID. 'Katherine Beckett'. _'What the hell does __she__ want? Probably calling because Dad didn't RSVP yet. As if!'_

"Dad, I need to take this call. It's personal. I'll be right back, okay?"

He felt a little irritated but just nodded. She wasn't his little girl anymore and it showed more every day. Now she was taking calls in private. He sighed and looked out the window. When had he gotten so damned old?

"This is Alexis."

"Hi, it's Kate – Kate Beckett. Listen, I really want to talk to your dad but he's blocked my number and it goes straight to voice mail. I need to tell him some things, Alexis. Please ask him to call me."

"If you'd like to tell me I can relay the message, but we're not exactly on speaking terms right now. Well, he talks. I just grunt in irritation."

"Alexis, don't be mad at him. Whatever he's done I'm sure he had the best of intentions. You know how much he loves you and your grandmother. Can you just tell him I called and ask him to please – please – call me?"

"Detective, we're going to Europe for the rest of the summer and then I'm coming home and starting Princeton. He's going on with his tour. Maybe you can talk some sense into him?"

"Alexis, it's what he does. These things are contractual in nature. He has obligations to Black Pawn – "

"No, he doesn't have any obligations to Black Pawn. That's just it. He's doing this on his own. Okay, I understand why he's touring military hospitals in Europe. He wants to give something back. But why is he so hell bent on going to Iraq and Afghanistan and visiting the wounded there and then imbedding with some unit for 'research'? He can do research for his new series by talking with guys who've been over there. He doesn't have to go himself."

"And that's why you're irritated with him, isn't it, Alexis? Have you talked to him about it? Maybe he has some reason he doesn't want to discuss. You know your father a lot better than I do."

Beckett had a momentary flash on a scene from the evening news – an armored vehicle afire, it's crew being treated by medical personnel but several already in body bags. She shivered at the memory and its new context. _Castle._

"It's like talking to the Sphinx. He just sits there and nods but he says he gave his word and that's as far as I can get. Maybe you could…"

"Alexis, I hurt him. He's not going to let me talk about this, can't you see that? If he won't take my calls, when would I talk to him?"

"Meet us at Grand Central Station at 7pm. We're coming in from D.C. so it shouldn't be hard spotting us. Look for the redhead with the swollen eyes and the big ox with his head up his butt."

Kate couldn't help it. She'd never heard Alexis Castle speak in less than proper English and never with such pungency. Her imagination ran away and she started to laugh and it was contagious and soon Alexis was laughing just as hard.

"I'm so sorry, Alexis. It's just that I had the funniest mental image for a moment…"

"No problem, Detective. I needed to laugh. Look, if you're there, you're there; if not, no harm done. We're leaving Friday and he won't be back for 3 months, maybe more, so we're running out of time."

"I'll be there. I have to tell him something and maybe he'll change his plans. I sure hope so. I'll see you there, Alexis."

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><p>Grand Central Station<br>7:45pm

Kate had been standing, waiting, since 6:30 just in case the train was early (Ha! Fat chance of that). Of course, it was late and she'd had two coffees and now was feeling the results. To say she was uncomfortable was an understatement. She glanced around and saw the universal sign for restrooms and sprinted off to take care of business.

Of course, the train arrived and the Castles were first off and Alexis had dawdled and even gotten back on the train saying she'd forgotten something but when that ploy failed to bring results, she sighed and accepted defeat.

Beckett hadn't come.

"C'mon, Alexis. I'm tired and I know you are, too. Let's catch a cab and then order a pizza or something. I just don't feel like cooking." He started walking toward the main station and the exit. Alexis seemed upset about something but he couldn't figure out if it was because of him or something else.

'_She said she'd be here. She's not. Maybe a case came up. Or maybe she had second thoughts. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing after all. It wasn't like he expected her to be here.'_

She sent here a text. _Arrived Track 7. Train late. We're heading home. Sorry you weren't here._

Thirty seconds later she got a text response from Kate. _In the ladies room. Too much coffee. Making bust. Perv hid in stall and flashed me. Can you hang on, delay?_

Castle turned to say something to his daughter but she wasn't there. He felt a moment's irritation and then concern. _Where is she?_

He turned around to look for her and saw her standing a few yards away, texting someone. She had a big smile on her face. He was glad someone had made her smile. He sure hadn't.

After sending Beckett her response, Alexis called her friend Paige and arranged a 'sleep over' and would tell her father that she wanted to spend some time 'apart' and besides, she wanted to talk all this over with her friend and gain perspective.

"Alexis? Are you coming?"

"Dad…" She told him her plans and he agreed. Maybe talking it over with Paige, her BFF, would make her more accepting of his plans. He'd never begrudge her time with her friend especially when she was leaving for the majority of the summer.

"Love you, Dad. I'll grab a cab." She gave him a peck on the cheek and took off running, dragging her wheeled suitcase behind her. She slowed to a walk once she was out of his sight and the sent Beckett another text.

_He's all yours. I'm over-nighting at friend's. Good luck!_

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><p>Kate had just handed the pervert over to the transit cops when she read the text and grinned. Castle had raised an amazing kid and almost all on his own.<p>

She let out a deep cleansing breath and then started walking rapidly towards the arrivals area. She had no idea how she was going to get through the next few minutes.

Castle was moseying up the corridor lost in his own world when he heard a voice bark "CASTLE!". It was the voice of authority. The voice of 'I will be obeyed'.

The voice of Kate Beckett.


	8. Chapter 8

Coming down to the wire. Thanks for all the motivation. 15,700 hits so far.

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><p><em><span>Final Heat<span>_ by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 8<p>

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><p>'<em><strong>Castle!'<strong>_

He glanced to his right following the sound of her voice and stopped walking and just stood there. He didn't know if she was coming to arrest him or what. He'd been out of town for a while and he hadn't caught the news or anything so he just hoped whoever he'd allegedly 'offed' had died at a convenient time for his alibi's sake.

"Yes, Detective?" His voice was strong and firm and steady while inside he was anything but. A part of him wanted to run away, afraid she'd try to hit him again. There would be no repeat performance. This time he would fight back.

The larger part was curious as to why she'd bark his name at him. It wasn't a casual _'hey, howyadoin_' kind of bark. More like a _'stop right there, dirtbag'_ tone and he'd heard her use it many times.

She covered the few yards between them and walked up and stopped at the fringe of his 'personal space'. _'God, he looks good. Really good. That damned scar makes him look sexy and roguish and did I already say 'sexy'?'_

Castle flinched when she raised her hand and her fingertips traced the scar on his face from the corner of his left eye down to almost the corner of his wide unsmiling mouth.

"I'm so damned sorry, Rick. I truly am. I – I – you were leaving me and I just didn't know how else to handle it so I gave in to my anger. I was mad at you, I was mad at Josh, at the world. I'm so sorry." The tears brimmed on her lids and threatened to slip down her lashes and she gasped when he ran a thumb across to wipe them away.

"You're not mad now, are you, Detective?" It was a question and a statement.

"NO! No, I'm – I miss you, Castle. When I read _Final Heat_ it was like the words took something away from me and I'm here now to get it back."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Detective. Really. There was nothing in the novel that would cause _you_ distress. After all, _Nikki Heat _got her happy ending_,. _She was engaged to her dream guy and I wrote it so that the reader knew that she'd continued on with her plans and married and lived happily ever after with a man who was everything she wanted."

Kate stared at her shoes, gathering her thoughts. She was losing focus. She'd have to be blunter and more direct.

"Castle, Rick, after you left my life just went to hell. The only thing I had left that mattered to me was my job and I had you to thank for that. You lied, Castle, you lied and convinced everyone that it was an accident when the truth was anything but. You know it and I know. Why? Why did you lie for me?"

"Your job is all you have, really. Josh will be away a lot and you'll need something to do, something to focus all that raw energy and talent on. I couldn't let our foolishness take that away from you. I couldn't be the one to ruin your career and take away the one thing you love."

She stared at him, processing all she'd heard. He really meant what he said. He knew her a lot better than Josh did. What did that say about a relationship that was supposed to culminate in marriage in a few short months?

"I'm going to be on tour and then I'm going to be involved with researching my next series and I'm sorry I won't be able to make the wedding. I'm sure you'll be a beautiful bride." The thought of her in a white dress and veil marrying anyone else but him killed his conciliatory mood.

"We've postponed the wedding twice; once because he was going abroad and again because he'd been invited to keynote some big conference."

"Well, that gives you more time to plan and perfect things. You deserve a perfect day to begin your perfect life." He really didn't want to have this conversation. Yes, she deserved a perfect life but with him, damn it, not Dr. Perfect.

She was stunned into silence once again. A perfect day to begin a perfect life – without him. He didn't say it or even allude to it but they both thought the same thing.

"Kate, if I've answered your questions satisfactorily, I'd like to be on my way. It's been an intense few days and Alexis is angry with me and off brooding with Paige and I'd really like to go home, unpack and get some sleep. Are we through here?"

Kate heard everything he said but the last sentence tore into her heart. _Were_ they through here? NO! This couldn't end like this. This wasn't her plan at all.

She felt her eyes burn and knew she was moments away from crying and that was not in her game plan. Kate Beckett would not cry. It was not her style. Castle would panic and she'd lose focus and he'd slip away. She had no choice. No, that wasn't right at all. She had a choice and she pointed at him – thinking back to her therapy session and she knew, without any doubts or reservations, she knew she could choose now.

"Castle, I choose you." She whispered her words and he leaned closer to hear her.

"What did you say?"

"I said, 'Castle, I choose you'."

"Choose me for what?" He didn't know what she was talking about. Choosing him for what?

"Richard Castle, I choose you as my 'one and done'. I will break off my engagement with Josh. It wasn't working anyway and I knew it but was afraid to end it. I'm not afraid now. I've made my choice."

He got angry. What gave her the right to dictate terms and to play around with peoples' emotions? She told him she loved him in the freezer just before losing consciousness and then she'd walked away with Josh. She walked away from him again after they'd disarmed the dirty bomb and saved half the city. She walked away with Josh yet again.

Choices, like consequences, had consequences. She was about to have that point driven home like a stake through her chest.

"You've already chosen. You're engaged. Even after telling me in that damned freezer that you loved me, you got engaged." Gone was the Rick Castle she knew, replaced by a cold man with a face that looked to be carved from marble.

The blood drained from her face and she felt faint for a moment. Had she said it in the freezer? She _had _thought it but oh, God, she actually _said_ it? No wonder he's confused. Mixed signals, conflicting signs, no wonder he left her.

"Castle – Rick – I'm sorry. I didn't know what I'd said in the freezer. We were dying and I – "

"Detective, we're done here. I wish you and Josh a long and happy life. I meant what I wrote in the dedication in _Final Heat._ I meant everything."

"But – "

"Goodbye, Kate. We're done. There's nothing left to say except goodbye."

He turned and walked away. He was home forty minutes later, sadder but wiser. He'd done the right thing, the honorable thing. He'd made his own choice and he surely would live with the consequences for the rest of his life.

She said she 'chose' him but she never said she loved him. Not once.

* * *

><p>Beckett<br>Castle's Apartment

She drove to Lanie's but drove on by. This was something she needed to do, not talk about. Fifteen minutes later she parked near Castle's apartment and nodded to the doorman and rode the elevator to his floor and rang the bell.

No answer. He couldn't be asleep already, could he?

She pounded on his door and the speaker grill beside the ornate door came to life with '_Who is it_?'

She'd never noticed it before and she was startled for a moment but then pushed the 'talk button' and said "Castle, it's me, Kate. Please let me talk to you."

"_We've said everything that was necessary. I don't mean to be rude but I'm in the middle of a shower. I've got nothing else to say, Detective. Good night_."

Kate turned and walked to the elevator and got on. A few minutes later she was back with a passkey in her hand. She'd abused her authorities and flashed her badge saying that Castle might be ill since he wasn't answering his door or his cell phone.

She let herself in and took a quick look around and then quietly walked upstairs and heard him puttering around in his room. She eased open the door and sensed rather than saw that he was in the bathroom since the bedroom lights were off.

Kate slipped in and then lay down on his bedspread and waited in the darkened room. Impatient and somewhat desperate, she got back up and undressed leaving only her bra and panties on and then reclined back against his pile of pillows.

Her pose duplicated that of Castle's favorite painter's best known work – La Maja Desnuda or The Naked Maja - but she didn't know that, of course. There was a lot she didn't know about Richard Castle.

She intended to find out all there was to learn about Richard Castle. This was so not over. Not by a long shot.

The bathroom door was ajar and from her vantage point she got a look at Castle as he stepped from the shower. A very good look.

'_My God, he's beautiful. He'd sell a hell of a lot more books if he put a photo of __that__ on the dust cover.'_

She watched as he towel-dried his body and then his hair and, typical guy, dropped the towel and stood on it while he brushed his teeth and then shaved. She heard him curse and figured he'd nicked himself and hoped it wasn't because of the scar she gave him.

He finally finished the floorshow and slipped on pair of boxers and turned out the bathroom light and then walked over and slipped into bed.

And promptly gave an almost girly scream and jumped back out and turned on the light.

* * *

><p>Kate's Apartment<p>

Josh was tired and angry. He'd waited at the airport for almost 2 hours for Kate to pick him up before taking a cab into the city and forking over $80. He knew she had a job that pulled her out to a crime scene without notice but the least she could have done was to have called him and let him know she was either going to be very late or to take the shuttle.

Frustrated, he opened up his laptop and opened a GPS tracking program that the medical agency had given him to plot locations for supply drops by the program. He had a nerd friend of his tinker with it and then he'd activated the GPS tracking chip in Kate's phone. He wasn't spying on her. He just felt closer to her when he got down time and could plot her GPS location and then Google it and see her on a map or street view.

Things had been strained between them since his last trip but he'd been promised 6 months without any requests for his services from the Médecins Sans Frontières. He was getting married and trying to get his life started again.

Since that damned writer had disappeared from her life things had been getting better, or so he thought.

He jotted down the GPS coordinates and then pulled up a Google street view and cursed. She was at Castle's!

He threw on his jacket and left the apartment. This was the final straw. She was cheating on him with that rich bastard and it had to stop or the wedding was off. He would not be made a fool of by any damned woman – even if she was a cop.

Josh lucked out and got a cab. He gave him Castle's address and sat back trying to figure out what to do next.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
><em><span>Final Heat<span>_ by Oldest Man

Some points, notes, comments and protestations: (1) It was _almost_ a girly scream; (2) In my worldview, Castle was born in the wrong century – he should have been born in the 19th century since he has the chivalric morals of that time; (3) I fail to see where Castle is 'punishing' Beckett; he's not a vindictive person; (4) Can you say 'Ay Yu'?; (5) Josh is not a bad guy, he's as much a victim of Beckett's perceptions as is Castle (and I don't mean that she's 'victimizing' either of them). Sure, my characters are flawed. You mean you're perfect? Wow! I'd have never guessed.

Enjoy the foray. 100+ reviews and 18,067 hits. You people have got to get out more.

Thanks. I really appreciate your support. Don't hate an old man for this chapter. Rainbows and unicorns have been promised to Phenixgirl and I never break a promise to a pretty girl.

Sorry for the length. I just got on a downhill slope and the fingers kept flying across the keys.

* * *

><p>Castle Loft<p>

"Beckett? What the hell are you doing here?" He would have said more, done something even perhaps considered stupid but she jerked on her left arm and he toppled back into bed.

She had put handcuffs on her left wrist and his right one, figuring if he had to drag her around, he couldn't run very far and if things went the way she hoped they would, neither would be impeded much in their various explorations. She'd been so fast, he never felt the cuff close around his wrist. He had too busy trying to levitate out of his bed.

"Beckett! Handcuffs? Have you lost your mind? You have a Taser hidden away someplace in case I try to escape?"

"Rick, look at me! Where the hell would I hide a Taser in this outfit?" She smiled when she saw his eyes widen and his breath hitch when he involuntarily responded to her challenge. Yep, a hundred bucks well spent at Victoria's Secret.

She jerked again and he was flat on his back and she quickly straddled him, being careful to land fairly low on his thighs. She wanted his attention on what she had to say. They could do things later. Right now she wanted him focused on her words.

"Rick, I'm not going to let your damned antiquated ethics keep us apart any longer. Not again. I love you, you big idiot. I have since you took that foul trollop of an ex-wife of yours to the Hamptons. I just didn't know that what I felt was love like it's supposed to be, so I crushed it and moved on."

"Could you please put some clothes on, Kate? I'm a guy and it's been two damned years…" He bit his tongue. He'd have to watch what he said. He needed to stay in control and _'Cherries. She always smells like cherries. I love the scent of cherries.'_

"It wouldn't be fair to either of us. You'd still be almost naked and I wouldn't be able to enjoy the look on your face when you let your eyes roam. But enough of that for now. The minute I lay eyes on Josh I'm giving him back his ring. It's in my purse."

She saw the tidal bore of emotions rush across his face but settle on a mix of guilt and pleasure. She couldn't figure out how she knew but she did and let it go at that.

"Don't go all guilty on me, Castle, because it's my decision and therapy has brought a lot of baggage I've tucked away over the years out of my mental closet and forced me to unpack, so to speak."

"But Kate…"

"No 'but Kates'. I talk. You listen. Then 'we'll' talk and listen to each other, I promise, baby, but for right now, please just listen, okay?"

He nodded when all he really wanted to do want flip her over on her back and then reach into the nightstand drawer and take out his set of handcuff keys and free himself from this crazy woman who used to be Kate Beckett.

Once doing research, he'd accidentally handcuffed himself to the bed frame and had left the keys in his pants pocket on the other side of the room, thus the spare keys. He vowed that he would never be caught in that position again. The look on Alexis' face…

"Focus, Castle, focus and then we'll talk about it and then you'll analyze the crap out of all of it because – well, because you're you and it's what you'll do. So listen – please?"

He nodded, trying to focus on anything else than the black lace bra that barely covered her – _focus on her voice_, _ignore all that smooth skin and those – _"Kate, I'll listen but I really think I could pay better attention if we adjourn to the kitchen for coffee – and clothes."

She sighed but considered the suggestion. He was so sweet and trying so hard to keep his eyes at some point above her collarbones.

"No. This is my time and my confession so just keep your eyes on mine and we'll get through this and then we'll deal with it, please?"

It took almost three hours for her to make her confession, answer his gentle but probing questions and finally let all the anguish and guilt and remorse go in a bout of cleansing sobs that left her sleeping on his chest, her cuffed hand curled up in his.

* * *

><p>Outside Castle's Loft<p>

"Driver, I've changed my mind. Take me to this address," and he rattled off Beckett's to the cabbie.

He had time to think on the drive over and he'd cooled down and become pragmatic and logical. He would wait for Kate to come home and they'd talk about their problem like normal rational people and resolve their differences or dissolve their engagement.

Like a lot of people in love, what seemed rational to him at first frequently wasn't and this time was no exception.

He got to Kate's apartment and used his key and went in to wash his hands. He had a habit of washing his hands as often as possible since some of the places he worked were cesspits of germs. More doctors died from infections picked up treating 3rd world patients than from the problems within the host countries.

He was drying his hands when he saw it balanced on the edge of the sink, the long, white pen-shaped thing - a pregnancy test stick with the words 'YES' in bright blue. He glanced down into the wastebasket and saw several more, all with 'YES' in bright blue.

He felt joy and then doubt set in. _'Is it mine? Or is it his?'_

He took a stick from the waste basket and went home. He had thinking to do and perhaps some fence-mending. A child! He was going to be a father! He would have to cut back on his traveling but – no, he would _eliminate_ his traveling. The gnomes would just have to find another cutter to do their good deeds. He would _not_ be an absentee husband and father.

There was only one dark cloud in his otherwise blue sky. Richard Castle.

* * *

><p>By the time Josh got home he had a plan. He knew that the author, for all his faults, was a monument to fatherhood. Kate frequently spoke of his dedication and devotion to family and his daughter, what was her name? Oh, yeah, Alexis.<p>

He'd appeal to his sense of family and ask him to do the right thing and step aside and end his affair with Katie.

Josh felt better and looked forward to seeing the mother of his child. He figured that Castle, being a player, would never have anything less than safe sex with Beckett.

He finished the letter and then enclosed the pregnancy test stick and grinned again at the bright blue 'YES' that foretold such happy times for him and his bride-to-be. Maybe they'd move the wedding up since he didn't want her embarrassed by showing in her gown.

He was thinking like a guy. He wasn't thinking like the trained physician he was. He was overwhelmed in a great way by impending fatherhood.

Changing out of his travel clothes and into more casual jeans and a rugby shirt, he left his apartment, hailed a cab and headed once more to Castle's loft.

* * *

><p>Castle's Apartment<p>

Kate woke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee being blown gently into her face. She cracked open one eye a hair and saw the cup and behind it, lips pursed and gently blowing the aroma into her face, Richard Castle, the man she had finally told she loved. And loved him she did. Nothing physical yet, not even a kiss. She'd fallen asleep and he'd held her all night.

Wait!

"Castle? Did you go groping around in my bra looking for the key to the cuffs?" Her cuff dangled from a wrist joined by titanium links to the other cuff that _should_ have been around his wrist.

"Nope. After you settled down and fell asleep I used my own key. Sometime I'll tell you about how I came to have one in my nightstand drawer but right now you need to get up and come down and let me cook you breakfast before heading back to your place to change for work. And please, Kate, wear something _more_ then you have on now – please?"

"Castle, about last night – "

"Second thoughts?" He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She'd be the one to back away even after those incredible revelations about herself and how she felt about him last night.

"Just one."

"Well, I don't read minds, Beckett." He voice had a little edge to it, more than he intended. _Here it comes, she's in the starting blocks and the starter raises his pistol. 'On your marks'._

"Castle, Rick I mean, last night I told you my deepest darkest secrets and desires. And now it's morning."

He nodded. "_Get set_."

"Why haven't you kissed me?"

_The starting gun fired and Beckett…just sat there, waiting._

"Because if I kiss you once, I won't be able to stop and we're just not ready for prime time yet. Josh is still in the picture and – "

She was so tired of this. She was a woman of action and decisiveness and so she decided and acted.

She reached behind his head and pulled him to her and kissed him with a hunger and passion he'd never felt before. When they broke to breathe she saw the look on his face and smiled.

"What's the look for, Castle? Never been kissed before?" She knew how he was feeling, what he was feeling. She was feeling it herself and when she reached for him again he stood up from the bed.

"Kate! As much as I want this to happen, it just can't happen now. Please, if you love me, then respect me, too. I won't cheat on someone – ever. I lost Meredith that way and I'm pretty sure Gina was shopping the man mall when we ended out marriage. I won't do that to someone else."

Beckett knew how deeply his feelings for Meredith had run, how upset he'd been when she walked out on him and his baby girl. She nodded her head in understanding.

"Okay, I understand, Rick, although I think we both have enough will power to at least have one more kiss before breakfast."

"After breakfast, at the door, as you leave. When Josh is out of the picture, we'll date. If this is the real deal, I want to cross all the I's and dot all the T's. I want your 'one and done' more than you do, Kate. I don't want to be a serial client for a divorce attorney."

"You're right. Let's go slow. You'll be away three months and I think I should get credit for 'going slow' during that period even if you're not here. I want you back here, in my arms, by Christmas, Rick. I want you for Christmas. Okay?" She didn't feel the fat tears rolling down her cheeks, so focused was she on the man she wanted to marry and to be the father of her children if they were so blessed.

He held her face in his large hands. She wanted nothing more than to stay there and be held by him. She could feel the love in his touch.

"Kate, please, don't cry. You did enough last night for a lifetime. No more tears. Okay, I'll be your Christmas present. I'll be home for Christmas, I promise."

She wolfed down the waffles he'd made and drank another cup of coffee and then walked with him to the door.

"This is it, Castle. I'm leaving and I want my goodbye kiss. C'mon, Rick, it's almost 7 and I have to shower and change."

"How about a 'see you later' kiss, Kate. I don't ever want to say goodbye to you."

* * *

><p>Castle's Apartment Building<br>Lobby

Josh approached the doorman who was standing behind a large counter and asked if he could leave a package for Richard Castle. He was assured that the package would be delivered to Mr. Castle immediately. Josh thanked the man and left.

Alexis was walking into the building as Josh was walking out. He held the door for her and wished her a good morning. It _was_ a good morning for all concerned.

That was about to change.

"Miz Cazzle, if you would, a package has come for your father. Would you mind taking it up to your apartment?"

"Of course, Piotr. He's up there and it'll save your tired feet so you can…"

"…dance at the wedding, I know. Your father and I must have a talk, soon. He and I will see eye to eye and you will go to a nice school where only women are in attendance. You shall see."

"Oh, puleeze. You and my dad are two of a kind. Last night he said he was sending me to an all-girls' school in Switzerland."

"A good man and father, your father. He thinks of everything."

He walked with Alexis to the elevator, waited until she was safely inside and returned to his post.

* * *

><p>Beckett's Apartment<p>

Kate opened the door to her apartment while checking the time on her Dad's watch. If she hurried she could shower, get dressed and put on a little more makeup than usual and get her butt into work. She hoped Rick would come by today, if only to say hello and goodbye to Esposito and Ryan. She was like an addict and was 'jonesing' bad for a fix of Rick.

She knew something was wrong the minute she walked into the apartment. Someone had been here. She pulled out her service pistol and began clearing the rooms, one by one.

She was in the bathroom when she noticed that the pregnancy test stick from yesterday was missing. She'd left it there deliberately so as to remind her (as if she could forget) to take another test and then call the doctor.

While she was mulling over who had been in her place and why nothing else was taken but a pregnancy test stick, her cell buzzed. It was Josh.

"Hey, where are you? You're not supposed to get in until this evening. I got your email and I'm looking at it. Yep, you're coming in tonight." Great! She could break it off with Josh and maybe go to dinner or have a family movie night with Rick and Alexis. They were leaving shortly for Europe and she wanted to 'stake her claim'.

"Kate, I came in last night. Katie, I'm not angry, but why didn't you tell me? It's a game changer, Katie."

'_Oh, crap! Did he know she'd been at Rick's?'_

"Josh, I think we need to talk. Can I meet you someplace this morning. I can be late for work. The guys will cover for me." Perfect.

"Well, have you eaten breakfast?"

"Not really. I just wolfed down some waffles and coffee. They're not sitting too well right now." It was the truth. She was so nervous about telling Josh it was over that she was getting physically ill.

"Katie, eat a couple of soda crackers and maybe some ginger ale if you have any. You'll be fine. I know it."

It was no use. She knew she was going to vomit. "Josh, I have to", she swallowed convulsively, "go and puke I'll call you right back." She was heading to the bathroom as she spoke.

"Remy's. You'll need something in your stomach. It's a big day, Katie! Aren't you excited?"

She hung up and dashed to the bathroom and puked. Her nerves were shot. She only puked when she was stressed about a major decision.

Across town Josh hung up the phone and grinned. Yep, 1st trimester morning sickness and mood swings. Gotta love it. He whistled while he got ready to meet the mother of his child for breakfast.

* * *

><p>Castle's Loft<p>

"Hey, Dad. Piotr gave me this to deliver to you. So, did anything interesting happen last night? Run into anyone interesting at the train station?" She handed him the brown mailer and then sat down and stared at him, daring him to ignore the questions.

Castle could tell from the look on her face that Alexis had been in cahoots with Beckett. He decided to have some fun.

"Nope. Came home, watched some TV, took a shower and went to bed. Just finished breakfast. So how's Paige?"

He almost laughed as he watched confusion, anger and then disappointment march across his daughter face.

"Uh, she's, ah, she's fine. Yeah. We talked about our trip and – are you _sure_ you didn't run into anyone at the station, Dad?"

"Nope. Wait, I did see the Transit Cops hauling off some poor beggar with his pants down around his ankles. A flasher, probably. Other than that, no. Caught a cab easily, came home, showered, grabbed a bite and then went to bed. BORING evening. Hope yours was better, Lex."

Alexis' mind was in hyperdrive. Beckett had mentioned turning a flasher over to the Transit Police and that she'd intercept her dad but that was the last she'd heard from her except for the unanswered text message she sent. Damn her job! She probably had to go into the station to swear out a complaint or something.

"Dad – Kate was supposed to 'run into you' at the station. It was all arranged and – that damned flasher – she arrested him. She was there, Dad, honest, and she was going to talk with you. Her job got in the way. She was there…"

"And then she came here and we talked and she spent the night handcuffed to me, fully clothed, I might add, and then we had breakfast and she went off to work."

"You! You had me going, Dad. For a minute there…spent the night? Had breakfast? Are you guys – like together now?"

"Not yet. She's still engaged, Lex, and you know how I feel about someone running around behind someone else's back. If you cheat when you're engaged, you'll cheat when you're married. Neither of us wanted that so we're waiting until she's free and then we're going to date when I get home at Christmas. She loves me, Alexis, and I love her. It's only three months and then we'll have to go through an engagement period and then…"

"I'm so happy for you, Daddy. I didn't want to leave you alone when I left for Princeton. I'm so glad you'll have Kate."

After hugs and kisses, Alexis went up to her room while Castle ambled back to his office with the brown envelope tucked under his arm. He'd read it and respond if necessary but he figured it was 'fan mail' and so it wasn't high on his personal 'to do' list but he always read fan mail. And tried to respond if one caught his interest.

He answered his emails, sent a notice to Paula to 'cancel the 'Beckett/Davidson gift' and then opened up the brown envelop and read the game-changing email.

Alexis walked down and into his office a few hours later. He'd called up to her that he was going out for a while and he'd be back before dinner. He had some errands to run. She saw he'd left his email up and he saw an unsent email to Paula reminding her to get Beckett something 'nice but impersonal' as a wedding gift.

She was totally confused. _'Why is he sending Kate a wedding gift?'_

Alexis knew her father. Something had happened and now he was pulling inside himself. He did this when Gina left him and again when he and Beckett had their argument. She had no idea what could have happened to change the world in such a short time.

She saw the letter and what she was shocked to see peeking out from underneath it – a pregnancy test thing. She'd seen them in commercials and had even seen one for this brand. She gasped and dropped it when she saw the big blue 'YES' on the stick. She never violated her dad's privacy but this was different.

The letter appealed to her father's sense of honor and of doing 'right' and asked that he 'end the affair with Katie' and let them marry and raise their child in a loving home. He promised to give up the Doctors Without Borders and settle down and make Katie the 'happiest woman on earth'.

She was so damned mad she could just scream! Beckett had to have known she was pregnant when she spent the night with her Dad. She had to have known when she asked Alexis for help. She had to have known. Was she really that cruel and vindictive?

Her heart broke for her father. He'd close himself off and withdraw for months just like when Gina left him. At least Gina had been upfront with him and hadn't lied to him. She'd found someone else and he wasn't Castle.

Beckett, on the other hand, was just plain cruel. And _she'd_ made it possible for her to get close to her dad and pull her crap on him.

Alexis was almost in tears when she heard the front door of the loft open and close and her Dad's voice call out to her.

"I'm in here, Daddy." She sat at his desk and tried not to cry. This was all her fault. If she'd just ignored Beckett none of this would have happened. He'd be as happy as ever not looking like he wanted to jump off the Narrows Bridge.

"Alexis, sweetie, it's going to be okay, I promise. Things happen. People you think you know end up surprising you in ways you never ever expected. I'm okay, well, I will be."

"Dad, I'm so sorry I ever helped her…"

"Alexis, how do you feel about spending a few days in Bermuda while we wait for our Visas to open? I think I've seen enough of New York to last me for quite a while."

"I'll be ready to go in an hour, Dad. Just you and me. Just like always."

"Yep. Look out Europe. Here come the Castle's."

Alexis turned around and faced the laptop and hit 'enter' sending the email regarding the wedding gift to Paula. The Castle family was done with Kate Beckett.


	10. Chapter 10

Death threats, curses, upset tikes who don't expect anything but hearts and flowers, mindreaders who are dyslexic... my fans!

I promised never to write an unhappy ending. O' ye of little faith. Literary agnostics.

Thanks for the 'awesome' deluge of disgruntled reviews. Pls log in if you're going to leave an especially crappy review. I like to respond and explain. BTW, disgruntled is a word. Is 'gruntled' a word? Just curious.

Special nod to GhostWriterLost for the pungency and to DeadPigeon for the usual. Btw, was that your auntie on the boardwalk? LOL!

Usual disclaimer. See original intro.

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>Final Heat<span>_ by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 10<p>

Remy's  
>8:20am<p>

Kate Beckett was nervous. She hated personal confrontations. She could handle confrontations on the job but then she carried the mantle and aura of authority provided by her badge and she felt poised and confident. Not so in dealing with people in her personal arena.

She'd deliberately parked a full block from the restaurant using the time to 'get her head together' but it didn't help much. She ran over dialogues in her mind but they all ended in a brutal argument and that was the last thing she wanted.

Kate squared her shoulders and pulled open the door and walked in. It took her less than 5 seconds to find him. _'He hasn't seen me. I can leave. I can call him and tell him a case came up. It's happened before. He's used to it.'_

She started to turn when she heard him call "Katie! Over here."

Caught. Too late. It took her 15 seconds to walk over to the booth where he greeted her with a quick kiss and a long hug.

"God, Katie, I've missed you. I've got great news, babe. I've decided to quit the program and stay here full time with you. I won't be an absentee father, Kate."

She stiffened and her fight or flight instincts kicked in but she couldn't move.

"Katie? Sit down, babe. You're shaking. Please, sit. I'll get you some water and something light to snack on. I'll just be a sec – "

"Josh, no. Sit down. We have to talk." It hadn't been this bad with Sorenson. Of course that had been over the phone but Josh deserved better.

She sat down across from him and laid her hands flat on the table. He immediately saw that her ring finger on her left hand was bare.

"Katie, you're not wearing your ring. You didn't lose it, did you? Is that why you're so tense? It doesn't matter. It was just a ring. We'll get you another one as soon as you're free to – "

"I didn't lose it, Josh. It's in my pocket. Listen, I have something really important to tell you. It's –"

"I know all about it. Look, I've done a lot of thinking and I've decided to end my participation in Doctors Without Borders. I should have done it earlier but I wasn't sure if I was ready to make such a huge change in my life but considering this, I am, definitely."

"Josh, _please, _just let me talk, okay? This is hard enough without your constant interruptions. You're worse than Castle." She didn't notice the frown come over his face as she pushed on.

"Josh, I can't do this. Last night I – "

"I know. You were with Castle. Is that a frequent occurrence?"

"NO! Jesus, Josh, no. Last night was the first time I'd seen him since I hit him back at the Precinct. How do you know I was there? Were you following me?"

He quickly explained his GPS app and how it let him be closer to her. She glared at him and took the ring from her pocket and held it out to him.

"Take it. I don't love you. Take it, Josh. Take it or I'll throw it away. "

"No. We're getting married as soon as possible. I won't have you embarrassed because you're showing. I want to make this work, Katie. I'm giving up what I love for _who_ I love. You and our baby."

"Baby? What baby? I'm not pregnant! What gave you…oh, you saw the pregnancy test – I can explain that."

"No. You're having my baby and you're not going to get with him and have him raise it. It's our, mine and yours. Please, Katie – "

"There is no baby, Josh. I'll explain it to you if you just give me a chance. There never was a baby. It's a hormone imbalance and I'm taking medication – "

"Don't lie, Katie! I saw several tests in the waste basket. I even sent one to Castle asking him to back off, end the affair, and do the honorable thing and let me raise our child in a loving home. You kept saying he was such an amazing father and I know he'll respect our wishes."

"You sent a letter – that's it. Take the ring. There is no baby, just a damned stalker who thinks he can change things to get his way. You sent him a letter? You bastard! There wasn't any affair. He wouldn't even kiss me because I was engaged. Well, I'm not engaged any more, Josh. We're through. Don't contact me again. I'll send you whatever crap you left at my place. Good bye!"

She walked out of Remy's with a smile on her face, ignoring the strange looks she was getting from the wait staff and patrons. She was free to chase Castle. Free to catch him and, maybe after a sufficient time, drag him to the altar.

Damn, she felt so alive…

* * *

><p>Cambridge Beaches<br>Sandys Parish, Bermuda

The 'cottage' had a beautiful view of the beach and Castle would normally have enjoyed sitting on the covered porch drinking Red Stripe beer and watching whatever was happening happen. He was slightly drunk but would not drink any more, well not too much more, at least until Alexis went to bed. After that he made no promises.

Neither of them wanted to talk about the 900 pound powder blue tutu-wearing gorilla that followed them wherever they went. Even now, it sat quietly watching the light surf and occasionally scratching something that itched. Alexis had made friends and was out maxing out her AMEX card but he didn't care so long as she was safe and happy.

Coming to Bermuda had not been one of his brighter ideas but he just wanted to get the hell out of Dodge and using a stupid reason like Visas was transparent to Alexis who just humored him.

There was really very little to do unless you were into shopping the duty free shops, taking long walks on the beach with a pretty girl, bedding said pretty girl and then repeating as needed.

If he wanted to walk on the beach he could have just gone to the Hamptons. If he wanted to bed pretty girls, he could have gone to one of any number of clubs, let the word get out that Castle was 'in attendance' and then wait for someone who met his basic qualifications to wander by him and after a few drinks, they'd 'hook up' for mind-numbing sex. Hey, it was what he did if you could believe the gossip columns that Paula and Gina had frequently 'salted' with similar suggestions.

He was bored and a bored Rick Castle, while not deliberately so, was potentially self-destructive. If he could have numbed his mind, he would have but – face it – the idea of being with any woman who wasn't the one he wanted would have required Cialis, Viagra, splints, all kinds of 'marital aids' and even then his heart wouldn't have been in it.

* * *

><p>11PM<p>

Alexis slipped up behind him, unheard in bare feet, and put her arms around him and rested her cheek against his.

"Hey, Pops, want to order from room service?" She was hungry and since she'd eaten lunch and an early dinner with a few new friends she'd met here and she was hungry again, her father must be starved. She wanted him sober for later.

"Go ahead, Pumpkin. I'm not hungry. Well, order me a Caesar Salad and we'll have one of famous and past-due father-daughter talks, okay with you?"

She pressed a sloppy kid's smooch against his cheek and padded away to find the phone and place their orders. She glimpsed the scar Beckett had left and uncharitably cursed her father's taste in women. This one had left a visible reminder unlike the others. Maybe that would change.

Alexis Castle was smart, some would say brilliant, and so she began using her intelligence and her love for her father to plot out a simple but elegant solution to their problems.

Young people think simply, linearly. It works for them. Based on their worldview and life experiences it was generally sufficient. Alexis was different.

Her amazing father and grandmother, her education, a lifestyle that would be the envy of 99.99% of her age group, all had shaped her views and experiences, as had the personal challenges she faced in raising her father into the man he was today.

She had called Beckett about 2pm after they had settled in to their 'cottage' (3 Bedroom, 3 bath, full kitchen) and asked her bluntly what game she was playing and listened to her explanation.

_"Alexis, it's no game. I love your Dad and last night was the happiest I've felt in years and then this morning it all turned to crap. Josh knew I'd been at the loft. He has some app on his phone that lets him track my GPS and he Google's a street view because he said he made him feel 'closer' to me. I think that's illegal and plain creepy. That's how he knew where I spent the night."_

_"Cut the crap, Detective. I saw the letter he had delivered or brought to the loft. I saw the pregnancy test thing with the big bright blue 'YES'. Your boyfriend asked my Dad to 'back off' and let the two of you raise your child without interference. He appealed to Dad's damned sense of honor and you know what, Detective?"_

_"No, Alexis, but I can guess. Your Dad mentally agreed and that was the end of Rick and Kate in his mind. Alexis, I need to talk to him, to explain all this. I broke it off with Josh, threw the ring in his face and went home. I've been sitting here all morning trying to figure out what to do. I need to talk to him, Alexis. Is he there?"_

_"He's in the next room. He's been drinking and he's chatting up the big blue tutu-wearing gorilla that's sitting there with him. At least that's what he says he's talking to. He's…never mind. Explain the baby, Detective! Explain away a kid! Jesus, you used me to get to my Dad. Why?"_

_"I'm not pregnant! I have a hormonal imbalance and it's how I check my levels. "Yes" means I'm in balance or close enough. "No" means I take a half-day off work and get blood drawn and then some painful shots. I'm not pregnant! I use the tests after I complained that the weekly blood sucking was making me look like a junkie with needle tracks and I'm a cop!"_

_"Kate, I want to believe you if only for his sake but – "_

_"That's it! I'm on my way over there. If I tell him the truth face to face and he still doesn't believe me then I'll – "_

_"Kate, you can't! You can't come over."_

_"Why not? I can be there in – "_

_"We're in Bermuda. He just wanted to get out of town and get away from so many reminders. We're here for three more days and then we head off to Europe."_

_"Text me you hotel information. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll text you with my flight times. I'll rent a car and drive to the hotel."_

_"Kate, you can't rent a car. Bermuda doesn't allow tourists' cars. A motorbike or scooter, yeah, but no cars. Besides, the speed limit's 15mph and you drive like a maniac when you're excited according to my Dad. Take the hotel shuttle."_

She was indeed her father's daughter.

* * *

><p>Cambridge Beaches<br>Sandys Parish, Bermuda  
>1AM<p>

Beckett walked along the path to the beach-side cottage. She was on the phone with Alexis who was guiding her to the right cottage.

"Kate, he's still sitting out on the porch. He's quit drinking but he's still awake. I finally got him to eat something. He's just watching the waves. Can you see me?"

Kate saw Alexis standing out front of the cottage and replied, "Yeah, I see you" and hung up.

"Hey, Alexis. I just wanted to say… I just wanted to thank you for believing in me. I won't let you down. I won't let _him_ down ever again." She took a deep breath and let it out. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark and she could see Alexis smiling – a real smile that included the eyes.

She was surprised when the young woman pulled her into a hug.

"He's all yours, Kate. Just don't blow it again, please? Be patient and expect a display of the world famous Castle stubbornness."


	11. Chapter 11

This chapter marks the end of Part 1. Chapters 12-18 are Part 2 and Chapters 19-23 is the final part.

Thanks for all the reviews but please, if you're going to leave a crappy one, at least log in so I can respond. 25,000 hits!

The usual disclaimer applies. Phenixgirl - rainbows.

* * *

><p><em><span>Final Heat<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 11

Beckett gazed around the 'cottage' and sighed. This lifestyle was so alien to anything she'd known and if she was really honest with herself, it was intimidating.

Alexis nudged her and pointed to a hallway going off the main room and whispered, "My room is down there. He insisted that I take the master bedroom since I'll 'soon be living in Spartan drabness' at Princeton and he wanted me to know a little luxury before then."

They both snickered at how typically 'Castle' a gesture it was.

"Dad's is down the other hallway. The guest bedroom is beside his. Each bedroom has a bath and it's fully stocked. He's out on the porch. Kate, we talked about this while we were eating – well, he talked and pushed his salad around – and you're going to have to be very careful and very explicit with your explanation. I'm going to bed. Good luck."

Kate was surprised and grateful when Alexis pulled her into a one-armed hug and then walked quietly to her room. Sometimes she wondered who had raised whom in the Castle household and just how he would cope with being alone once Alexis went off to college and Martha now had her own place across town.

'_He won't be alone if I can help it.'_ The thought gave her strength to do what she had to do. As with Josh, she was very uncomfortable with confrontation on a personal level and these would be the most personal and confrontational moments of her life.

* * *

><p>She took a few steps and stopped. The noise her sandals made on the sanded hardwood floors sounded loud even to her so she toed them off and walked barefoot across the room to the large open French doors and stopped to survey the battleground before stepping out onto the porch.<p>

The 'porch' was larger than her apartment and was more like a Victorian idea of an outdoor sitting room furnished with wicker furniture and large comfortable cushions and pillows. He hadn't turned on any of the lamps, preferring to sit in the comfortable darkness and watch the surf.

He was sitting in the corner of a large loveseat and she could tell by the nodding of his head that he was fighting off sleep. It had been a stressful day for the both of them and she considered just leaving him as she found him and slipping away to the guest bedroom and dealing with the mess in the morning after a night's sleep but dismissed it as cowardice.

She quietly walked up behind him and bent and put her arms around his neck and whispered "Rick, I'm so sorry about everything that's happened today and I want to explain things and take away all the hurt you must be feeling. Can we just talk, please?" Her lips found his scar and she allowed her lips to rest lightly at its edge near his eye.

She felt the muscles bunch up in his shoulders as he was preparing to get up and Kate whispered almost fiercely, "No, Rick. We're done running away from this. I have to explain what happened. I won't try and justify what was done, just explain it and then either we'll talk or I'll leave in the morning and you can get on with your life. Please give us a chance?"

"Ha! I told ya she'd show up somehow. So stick that in your ear, ya blue ape, and go join the other gorillas of my past in the mists."

"Castle, are you drunk? 'Blue ape? Gorillas of your past?' Maybe this had better wait until you sober up a bit – a lot – c'mon, let's get you to your room. We'll talk in the morning."

She was secretly thrilled by his comment to the figment of his imagination. Maybe things would work out.

"No, Katherine Beckett, Detective, NYPD, we'll talk _now. _Well, okay, you talk, I listen – for a change."

He stood up and grabbed her hand and dragger her from around the loveseat and into a loose embrace. "I want to walk on the beach. The sea air will help clear my head. Join me, Kate, please?"

He looked 5 years old for a second and then the age rushed back over him when she didn't respond immediately.

"Can we just stay here, like this, for a few more seconds? I've been Jonesing all day without my fix and this is what I need. Just a few more seconds and then we'll walk and talk. Don't promise to be quiet, Rick. It's not in your nature."

"Ah, Kate, is there something you're not telling me? Jonesing? A fix?"

"Yeah, I'm an addict, Rick, and I need my stuff like I need air. I've become addicted to you, Castle, and incredible as it is, it's the damned truth. I've never needed people around me before but you and your family are like a narcotic and you're the most addictive of them all."

"Oh. Good. I mean, that you're not – I'll shut up. Go ahead, take what you need, Kate."

A few minutes later she sighed and then giggled. "I'm good. Let's take that walk. I have a lot of explaining to do so you'll have to be patient and not interrupt – "

"I can do that."

"Yeah, I can see that already. C'mon, Castle, it's been ages since I strolled on the beach in the moonlight with a man I love. Come to think of it, I've never – "

"Quit procrastinating, Beckett, or I'll start off alone and allow my vivid and lurid imagination to conjure up all kinds of juicy reasons why you've suddenly fled the Big Apple. Um, what about Doctor Do-Gooder? I was serious, Kate. If you're still engaged, if you haven't broken it off with him, you might as well hit the guest room right now and leave in the morning."

"Is that a threat, Castle? After I've flown how many miles, gone through customs _AND_ been groped by a uniformed TSA woman with tattoos and – "

"Cut to the chase, Kate. Yes or no. Are you still engaged and does he know his new status of 'single'? Yes or no."

"Yeah, he knows. There's no way he could have mistaken what I said for anything else but what it was. Now, if you're _finally_ through interrupting me, Castle, let's walk and I'll talk and you'll listen, okay?"

* * *

><p>The sky was a mix of reds and yellows when the couple walked back into the cottage, holding hands and looking tired but happy. Kate's story had taken almost an hour and a half to tell, peppered with interruptions and questions. Surprisingly, Castle had gotten quieter and quieter as her tale unfolded and towards the end he said nothing at all.<p>

"You're awfully quiet, Castle. I can hear the gears in your head whirring and clicking. What's going on in that head of yours?"

"I'm trying to come to grips with my own fears and anxieties. I've been courting you for 3 years and it's always been one baby step forward and a huge couple of steps back. I want this so badly, Kate, and I'm afraid to say anything or do anything because I might screw it up."

"Hey, Rick, we're together and once the tour is over, I'll take leave and we can go away someplace together and get back on track. I understand why you have to do what you've planned and I respect it but I'm scared to death of you going into the combat areas. Can't you stay back in a base or fort or whatever they have and just visit the hospitals there?"

"Kate, my next series requires background I don't have. I want to write about real people and their struggles and triumphs. We owe these people so much and no one, well, okay, people who've been there do, pay more than lip service to 'support the troops'. It's one thing to read about it but if I'm going to write it, I have to know what they go through, what they do."

"Okay, but do you have to go out there with them? Can't you just buy a few rounds in the club and listen and take notes?"

"Kate, it's my job. It's what I do. I have to do this. I owe these people for keeping my family and you and me safe. Don't make it any harder on me than it already is, my love. I never tell you how to do your job – well, not really."

"I don't like it one bit. But I understand why you're going to do it. I just wish I could be there watching your back."

Castle snickered and she popped him on the arm. "What was that snicker for, buster?"

"I was just imagining you and I in a sleeping bag in the desert trying to make love quietly while surrounded by 20 or 30 soldiers. Sorry, my mind wanders when I get tired and I think of the most stupid things."

"I don't think the idea of us making love is stupid, Castle. Let's go to bed then, Rick. No handcuffs this time. No reason, right?"

"None at all. The guest bedroom is – oof! What the hell, Kate?"

"I didn't come all this way to sleep in another room. We're both tired and other than kissing like we did on the beach, neither of us is up for some serious loving. Tomorrow night, Castle, I'll rock your world. Tonight, er, this morning, all I want to do is crawl into bed beside you and be held until I wake up. Okay? And we have to be in the same damned room to do it."

"Beckett, how many days of vacation do you have accrued?"

"Why? Uh, I guess, maybe 65 or 70. I hardly ever go on vacation."

"Call Roy and take them all. The three of us can see Europe and then you and Alexis can fly back together. Mother will get her set up at Princeton and we'll all be back together at Christmas. What do you say?"

"I brought two days' clothes, Rick. I have a job, responsibilities, I can't just – oh, what the hell, yeah, I'll call the Captain first thing in the morning and see what I can work out. I just – Rick – you're rich and I feel like I'm a gold digger. I don't have the money – "

"Y'know, Kate, for a brilliant cop, you sure are stupid sometimes. Marry me and all this, all I have, will be yours. No prenup needed. This is your one and done and I want to share everything I have with you for the rest of my life. So no more talk of gold digging. You made me several million on the Heat series and Kate – I meant it. Courtship is over. Wooing is done. "

She kissed him gently and leisurely. "Castle, I like the way you think but no, I won't marry you 'on the fly'. I want it done right, in the City with all our friends and family. Nothing elaborate but it's what I want. Okay?"

"Anything you want, anything I have, it's all yours. Let's get to bed. Alexis will be pounding on the door demanding an update soon enough.

"Let's sleep and then talk. I want to include Alexis. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her Castle stubbornness. You raised an amazing daughter. And she raised an amazing father, too. Sleep, Rick. We have all the time in the world to plan to perfection, remember?"


	12. Chapter 12

Standard disclaimer applies. Thanks for the feedback and support. This is obviously AU. It always amazing me when people say 'that's not canon'. Your lives must be so boring and predictible.

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>Final Heat<span>_ by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 12<p>

12th Precinct  
>December 2<p>

Kate Beckett hated being late for work but she'd waited up until almost 3am for Rick's call. He was in an Operations Base for a 'refit' and he'd emailed her that he'd call her 'around 3am your time'. He didn't want to push any of the soldiers out of the queue. He'd wait until everyone in the platoon had made their calls.

He'd sounded tired but very happy and relaxed. They'd been 'on the road' for 10 days patrolling and the platoon he'd adopted and embedded himself in was moving out in the morning to relieve a platoon from their up north in the mountains for a week or two for refit before Rick would be returning to the US. The most important part of the conversation had been the part Kate had waited for almost three months to hear about.

"_Kate, I'll be home by the 18th. Honey, if it's not too much trouble, could you meet my plane? I want to introduce you to a couple of the guys who are going home on two-weeks leave. I've told them so much about you and they all want to meet Nikki Heat."_

"_Sure thing, Castle. I'll wear my black leather pants and that see-through camisole you bought me in Paris and my red leather jacket and those high-heeled boots you like so much – you know, the ones that go up above the knee…"_

"_Kate – just jeans and a jacket will be fine, really. Nothing so – elaborate."_

"_You mean nothing so slutty, don't you, dear?"_

She had laughed at his strangled response. She couldn't wait to get him back home where he belonged. He'd been gone too long as it was. She missed him terribly.

She looked up at the picture of a smiling Castle in BDUs and web gear surrounded by bad-assed young men who didn't look more than 18 or 19. They could be his sons. He was too old to be running around with combat soldiers. He might get hurt. She wanted him home beside her every night for the rest of her life.

A cup of coffee and a bearclaw appeared on her desk and for just a second she hoped Castle had somehow made it home early but it was only Lanie.

"I take it from the weary expression on your face that he did, indeed, call you this morning? So how is our own 21st century Kipling doing? When's he coming home, Kate?"

"Around the 18th. I'll be so damned glad when he's out of there, Lanie. Every time I look at that picture I get so anxious. He's old, Lanie, too damned old to be running around the mountains with a bunch of kids half his age. Y'know, he's old enough to be their father. They're Alexis' age. Ashley's age. I just can't imagine…"

"And that's why he's writing this book series, Kate, because civilians _can't _imagine what they do and how they do it. He's trying to bring home what our soldiers do for us and the prices they pay. We see ranks of uniforms. He wants us to see the people in those uniforms."

"And Kate, don't be calling that fine young stud 'old'. He's in his fine prime and you know I'm right."

She caressed the engagement ring that he'd surprised her with in Antwerp the night before she and Alexis had flown back to New York. Unlike bigger than life Castle, it was demure and was perfectly suited to her hand. Alexis had been shocked at her father's good taste.

They were spending their last night in Europe in Antwerp at a small hotel on the canal called _De Witte Lelie_ – The White Lily. Alexis was in her bedroom packing and allowing her father his requested 'personal time' with Kate after they'd eaten dinner in the main salon of the hotel.

It was raining heavily and he told Alexis he was going to propose while walking along the canal but the rain had squelched that.

"_Dad, when did you buy a ring? Are you sure this is the right time – you're going to be gone until Christmas – "_

"_Pumpkin, it's the right time. I've been carrying this thing around since Bermuda and I've tried to work up the nerve many times but – this is the right time. I just need a few minutes."_

Sometime later Kate had knocked on Alexis' door and asked if she 'had a quick second because she needed to talk with her'.

"Alexis, Rick's asked me to marry him and I said 'yes'. I love him, Alexis, and I want to – "

She didn't get to finish the sentence. Alexis had bowled her over with a hug and profuse congratulations and immediately squealed when she saw the ring on Kate's hand.

"Oh, it's so perfect for you. My Dad's been carrying it around with him since – " She stopped and looked at Kate and then said " – since Bermuda. That's when he made his mind up but never had the courage to ask you. I'm so happy for you both. Does this mean you'll be moving to the loft? Thanksgiving – we'll have a huge Thanksgiving dinner for all our friends and the guys from the 12th and Lanie has to come, too, and – "

Kate started laughing at her enthusiasm and Castle-like joy. Alexis was going to bring a lot of happiness into Kate's life. She could see them shopping together, ganging up on Rick in arguments, games and discussions. As for moving into the loft –

"Kate, KATE!" Lanie knew that look. She was remembering something precious to her.

"Uh, sorry. Just remembering how – never mind. So, have you got a cause of death yet?"

It was business as usual.

* * *

><p>Someplace cold and nasty<br>Afghanistan

"Yo, Castle, the L-T wants to see you before we mount up. He's up front."

"Got it. Did he say what he wanted?" Castle was afraid that LT Sullivan was going to veto Castle's tag-along on the trip to relieve another unit up in the hills.

"Officers don't confide in lowly ranks like me, Rick. If he wanted me to know, he'd have told me. Move it. You know how anal the dude is about his time."

Castle walked up toward the head of the supply column, nodding to vehicle drivers he'd gotten to know and marveled again at how calm and focused they all seemed to be.

The 60km road trip into 'Indian Country' as the Taliban-controlled areas were referred to, would take most of the day barring IEDs and other nuisances. His one experience with an IED had been terrifying to say the least.

_**BANG!**_ _The Stryker wheeled vehicle slowly rolled over onto its undamaged side, sending the squad sitting in the back all over the place. It was doctrine to use the seatbelts provided with the canvas jump seats but no one did, preferring the risk of a broken bone to burning alive if the vehicle caught fire and they couldn't 'egress the vehicle' in time._

_Rick had been dozing, lulled into a semi-sleep state by the hum of the tires on the paved road. He regained his wits but was unable to breathe. The wind had been knocked out of him when Esposito (no relation to Javier, he'd asked) had slammed into him head first._

_He was sucking air in and out as rapidly as he could when the rear hatch was thrown open and someone screamed 'get out, get out, ambush right!' and he'd crawled out of the smoke-filled compartment and fell a couple of feet into a dog pile of troopers, all stunned by the explosion and trying to clear weapons and take up defensive positions._

_They'd been lucky. It was just an IED not an actual ambush. A concussion or two and a few sprains and broken bones but nothing major._

He stuffed the memory of his fearback down where he kept such things and stood waiting for Sullivan to finish up talking with one of his sergeants. He looked over and saw Castle and gestured for him to follow him around the side of the Humm-V.

"Mr. Castle, I really don't want you riding along on this one but I got orders so you're with 3rd Squad as usual. One thing. Non-combatants are not permitted to carry arms under the terms of the Geneva Convention. You don't carry a weapon."

"Yeah, I've been briefed. No weapons. I'm just an observer."

First Lieutenant Thomas Sullivan, graduate of West Point Class of '06, sighed and then looked at the older man intently. He liked Castle – hell everyone liked him. He was like a puppy, enthusiastic about every new experience, observant, and asked all the right questions at the right times. He soaked up everything around him and he was a great morale builder during stand-downs.

"Rick, I'm about to commit a crime under the UCMJ and the fact that I'm doing so should tell you how serious a situation we're going into. Here. Take this web belt and holster. There are a few extra mags and a box of 9mm rounds and a Beretta M9 in this demo bag. I know you know your way around the pistol but it's only, Castle, _only_ to be used to defend yourself. No offensive actions, got it?"

"Yes, sir." It didn't seem at all odd to Castle that a man almost 40 should address a man nearly 20 years his junior as 'sir'. Sullivan was well liked and respected by the troops of the Stryker unit. He'd been with them since he was a 'butter bar' and he was an excellent commander.

"Don't put it on until we're on the road, okay? If any of the other embeds see you with it, there'll be hell to pay."

"Got it, L-T. Those TV pukes would make a big deal out of it and I wouldn't want to get you in trouble. Thanks for – well, just thanks."

Sullivan nodded and turned back to his business and Castle put the web gear into the demo bag and walked back to his assigned vehicle. This would be his last time in the field with 'his' squad and he had very mixed emotions about ending his 'tour' with them and returning home.

He felt like he was abandoning them.

* * *

><p>"Yo, Castle! Get on board, old man. We're ready to roll!" Esposito loved teasing Castle about his age almost as much as the older man enjoyed telling him tales of Javier Esposito of the 'Immortal 12th' fame.<p>

Once he was onboard and things settled down, Esposito called out to him across the vehicle. "Hey, Rick, do you _really _know Nikki Heat? I mean, is she real?"

Castle smiled shyly. He unzipped his field jacket and reached into his BDU shirt pocket and took out a photo of him and Kate that Alexis had taken the morning in Bermuda before they left. He looked at it for the billionth time and then leaned over and handed to Esposito.

"Yeah. I know her. I'm going to marry her when I get home. Well, within a few months. We've been engaged since August. Her name's Kate and she's the real Nikki Heat – just not slutty is all."

"Oh, man, where can I get me one of these? You might be old but you definitely caught the fox, dude."

Castle blushed and then took the photo back. "Yeah, I caught the fox." He'd have to remember to kid Kate about being 'a fox'. She was, but didn't seem to know it or act like it. Another thing to love about her.

Castle loosened the chin strap on his helmet and leaned back against the hull of the Stryker and tried to sleep. Maybe he _was_ getting to be too old for this kind of stuff.

* * *

><p>The trip up through the mountain passes had been uneventful and Castle thought he detected relief in the eyes of his squad mates. He knew he was relieved.<p>

When the soldiers set up in the old unit's positions, the lieutenant had a fit.

"Get out of them holes and dig new ones! You haven't learned a damned thing, have you? The goats have plotted every position for weeks now and I figure they've got 82s zeroed in on every damned one of them."

Sullivan proceeded to direct the platoon to new locations and in the waning light, Castle helped Esposito and Douglas dig their new fighting position. He understood the lieutenant's concerns. He reminded him a lot of Captain Montgomery, normally quiet and dignified but given the right circumstances, he could become a tiger with hemorrhoids.

"Man, the Ell-Tee needs to go home for a while and chill. This is so much crap. Five meters over that way is a perfectly fine position already dug out and everything. This is crap."

Castle just kept digging but Esposito took exception. "Fool! Go ahead, go over there and snuggle down deep and when the goats start throwing 82s and one lands on your crotch, don't come dragging your bleeding ass over to our hole. Sullivan's been around the block. He don't want to write no damned letters. Either get digging or get out!"

"C'mon, Castle. Let's move out of the projects and into the Ritz. Besides, you're huffin' and puffin' and might have a heart attack."

"Nope. I trust Sullivan's judgment. I don't want Kate getting a letter from him. No, I'll just keep on digging. Good cardio workout. Douglas, get your E-tool moving. It's almost too dark to see."

Douglas spat out into the darkness and grabbed his ruck and weapon and crawled over to the finished position. "Fools" was the last thing they heard him say.

* * *

><p>12th Precinct<br>Three days later

It was just after 6pm when the fire door flew open and Lanie Parish ran into the squad bay shouting for Beckett. Everyone saw the look on her face and then as one, turned to look at Beckett.

"Lanie, what's wrong? What is it?" She stood up and started walking towards her best friend who looked shaken and out of breath.

"Damned elevator's - busted again. Kate, break room – TV - Channel 6, hurry!"

Kate felt a moment of confusion and then ran to the break room and turned on the big screen TV Castle had insisted on presenting the precinct detectives on his 3rd anniversary of shadowing them. She waited impatiently and then hit the remote for Channel 6.

Lanie had followed her into the break room as had Esposito and Ryan.

"Castle – Rick – on TV in – Afghan – istan." She was still catching her breath and making mental notes like 'no more bearclaws, no more elevators, take the stairs, Lanie, before you weigh more than Esposito".

Kate turned up the volume and waited for the commercial break to end. She counted 8 separate commercials before the station returned to the news broadcast.

"Well repeat that amazing video at 10pm and also have additional footage as well as an interview with the news crew who shot it. Now, turning to sports…"

"Damn it! What was it, Lanie? Jesus, you need to hit the Stairmaster, Lanie. Are you smoking again?" She poked fun at her friend's level of fitness whenever she got the chance.

"Castle was some place in the mountains with some soldiers and he and another guy threw some of the news crew off a helicopter to make room for wounded and they got into it. You might _think_ you can whoop Castle's ass but I wouldn't bet on you after what I saw."

"Was he hurt? How'd he look?" She was hanging on to the lapels of Lanie's lab coat and shaking her with every word.

"He looked pissed off but I didn't see any signs of injury, just Castle grabbing some big civilian and tossing him around like a stuffed doll – a big assed stuffed doll, too. And then he and a soldier put some wounded guy on the chopper and it took off."

Esposito had been on his phone and said to Beckett, "Kate, my sister's boyfriend's a producer at Channel 6. He's going to let us see the footage as soon as we can get down there. I had to – sorry, really sorry – but I had to tell him you were Castle's fiancé for him to do it."

"Let's go, Esposito. I don't care what you told him if I get to see that tape."

* * *

><p>Lower West Side<br>Channel 6 News Room

"Like I told Javier, it's a copy of the network feed. The whole thing will air at 10pm and we just rebroadcast the network feed but I gotta ask, would you mind if after you see the tape maybe giving us a few comments? I mean, Ricky Castle goes Rambo on a soundman and stuffs some wounded grunt into a chopper – that's entertainment! What do you say? Great human interest angle, no? Can't believe it's the same Rick Castle of Page Six fame, y'know?"

"Let me see the tape and then I'll give you my answer. And it better be all of the damned tape, not just the parts you showed on TV, got it?" This asshole was one of the reasons he was writing the series.

"I got it. Let me go set up a screening and I'll have someone come for you." He was gone in a flash muttering something about organizing a shoot without any damned crew.

"Esposito, this is your future brother-in-law? Your sister's got poor taste in men."

"Yeah. She and I, we're definitely going to have a talk. The guy makes my skin crawl. We're definitely going to talk."

A secretary came and led them into the screening room and they sat waiting until the queued tape began to play.


	13. Chapter 13

Usual disclaimer. The events described on the hilltop are real, just moved about 8,000 miles eastward in distance and 43 years in time. It was an ABC news crew in the Central Highlands and I was there although not a participant in the actual events, just a witness.

More hits than words! Thank you for your continued interest. Remember, I'm a sucker for happy endings.

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>Final Heat<span>_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 13  
>Someplace really cold and very nastyAfghanistan<br>December 5  
>12 hours prior to the 'taping'<p>

"Yo, Castle, the L-T wants you at the CP hole. Oh, man, you didn't have to dig another foot out! I could have helped you after I got back from patrol."

"Look, I've seen you when you get in. You barrio boys don't handle the cold well and besides, it kept me warm – okay, less frozen. If it makes you feel any better, I hit the only two square meters in Afghanistan without a rock ever 2 inches so it wasn't all that hard digging."

"Still, you shouldn't have – "

Castle tossed the E-tool to Esposito and climbed out of the hole. "If you really want to do something constructive, see about adding a hot tub and a flush toilet to the bathroom while I'm gone. Got frostbitten _cojones_ last time."

"Yeah, right. Why don't I just work on a flight of stairs so you won't have to grunt and groan so hard getting out of our cozy Afghan condo."

Castle flipped him the bird and walked hunched over to the CP hole. It was going to snow again and he never thought he'd wish for the blazing heat of the day he arrived in-country. He didn't complain though. Everyone was cold.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Again he automatically added the honorific. He didn't feel self conscious about it. It was his name, as far as he was concerned.

"Yeah, Rick. I want you out on the log bird when it comes in tomorrow afternoon. No objections, Mr. Castle. Orders. Seems like no one wants a dead writer on their copybooks if the crap hits the fan. Seriously, Rick, you don't belong here now. This afternoon was just foreplay. The Goats will start seriously fucking with us when it gets dark. I _would_ have put you on the log bird this morning but you weren't _here, _were you? I told you 'no more patrolling'. You're not trained for it and it's a stupid thing to do."

Castle didn't say anything. He knew the L-T was right. He didn't belong here. When the mortars started, two men left the walls to drag him to his hole and one, Esposito, stayed with him instead of manning his position.

"Okay. I'll be waiting. Sully, it's been and honor and a privilege." He extended his hand to the young officer. "Yeah, Castle, just make sure you tell it like it is. Too many people back home don't see this as they should. It's a damned FUBB rapidly morphing into a FUBAR."

"You _will_ be stopping by the loft when you're home, right? I can introduce you to some folks and a few deep fried twinkies if you're in the market?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll see you in 7 months."

"Oh, Castle, leave the hardware with Esposito before you leave. Wouldn't want me getting a court martial would you?"

Rick nodded and scuttled back to his hole feeling exposed and naked even with his Kevlar and field jacket on. He looked down at Esposito in the bottom of the hole.

"You didn't finish the steps, dude. You know what happens when I have to jump into the bottom of a hole…my knees can't take it anymore." He loved zinging this Esposito as much as he had Javier. They were different people but so much alike sometimes it was scary.

Rick heard a ripping sound overhead and looked up instinctively and then jumped down into the hole and huddled down in a ball, arms over his helmeted head looking like an armored fetus on some distorted sonogram.

The earth puckered up and tried to spit him out of the hole he'd dug. He could hear Esposito mumbling a Rosary and a keening wail off in the distance. The multiple impacts of the mortar rounds made the ground tremble and Castle had the random thought that the Gaia freaks should start protesting the use of mortars by the Taliban since they were wounding 'Mother Gaia'.

He snickered at his own thought and totally freaked out Esposito.

"Man, we're getting hammered here and you're frikkin' laughing? Y'know, Castle, your blood type is wrong. It isn't A Positive – nope, it's IW for Ice Water."

"I was just thinking – hey! They've stopped?" The mortars stopped for the moment. It wasn't harassing fire like earlier. This was planned and executed with pinpoint accuracy. Every one of the original fighting positions had either been hit or a near miss and the crude rock bunkers that dotted the hilltop were mostly gone – collapsed in on themselves like the abandoned village they'd occupied.

Esposito stood up in the hole and then reached out and pulled on something and it fell into the bottom of their position and he shrieked like a girl and bounded out of the hole while Castle just stared at the leg wondering who it belonged to. He shook his head and then reached down and gently, almost reverently, placed the leg on the edge of the hole and crawled out.

Esposito was kneeling on the ground trying to vomit up his last meals. He looked up at Castle and then over at the leg and dry heaved. As if he were picking up the Sunday Times from his loft door, Castle bent over and picked up the leg and carried it over to the position Douglas had taken and dropped it into the hole. It had been a direct hit and from what he saw in the poor light, there were pieces of Douglas still unaccounted for.

_'Jesus, he was only 19 – "_

A shape approached him and grabbed him by the arm. "Mr. Castle? Sullivan wants you to stay with the wounded and watch over them. Follow me, sir." It felt odd to be address as 'sir'. He turned to Esposito who had heard the order and he nodded and then crawled back into the hole for his weapon and helmet. Castle followed the soldier to a point behind the CP hole and sat down with the medic.

"What can I do? I've been trained in basic police first aid so I can handle GSWs. I don't know about – I don't know much more than that."

"Hold up this blood expander and make sure he doesn't roll around. Let me know if he wakes up and I'll shoot him up again. Loosen the tourniquet every 10 minutes for 15 seconds or so then tighten it up as tightly as you can. He lost a foot and we need to get him out of here. I'll be back to check on you in a few minutes. Questions?"

"Don't let him roll. Loosen tourniquet and then retighten after 15 seconds."

"Good man." And he was gone leaving Castle with more responsibility than he ever really had in his entire life.

* * *

><p>There were more mortars and then a light ground probe around 3am but by sunrise it was apparently over. He found Esposito squatting near a rock wall eating an MRE and sat down beside him.<p>

"You okay now, Ron?" He rarely called the young man by his first name.

"Yeah. Sorry to freak out like that but Douglas – man, it was so damned sudden. And the way you handled his leg like it was some kind of holy relic – it just freaked me out. Don't put that in your book, Castle, please?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Esposito. Look, I'm going out on the log bird this afternoon. Anything you need? Anything I can do for you back home? You got my address and phone number, right? You'll call me when you get in-country?"

"Yeah, sure thing. I want to meet Nikki Heat. And maybe you can hook me up with some sweet thing with money and no brains."

"Count on it. I got an ex-wife that will just love you, Esposito."

"Good enough. You watch your ass out there, old man. Them's mean streets in New York."

* * *

><p>The Making of the Tape<p>

A chopper landed about 8am and a camera crew off-loaded and ambled around shooting footage and doing interviews. Castle made himself scarce. He had no desire to appear on TV. This was their day in the sun. He made his way to the make-shift aid station where the medic had done triage and then the best he could for the 3 wounded.

"How's he doing?" He was referring to the guy he'd tended all night. He didn't know his name. He was new and from the 1st squad.

"He won't make it if he doesn't get better care than we can give. The other two are serious but I've got them under control. This guy has hours at best. I just can't stop the bleeding and I have nothing left to try."

"What if we put him on the TV bird. He'd be in base camp in less than an hour, right?"

"Castle, they always bring too many people and their bird's probably maxxed out on weight and in this weather…no. They'd have to dump everything and they won't do it for us. Sorry, man, but it's the way it is."

He looked up and saw that the TV crew had wrapped up their shoot because the weather was turning bad and the winds were picking up. It was now or never.

"Get some guys to carry him to the chopper. He's getting out of here and home alive. Follow me, son."

"Yes, sir! You two, grab his feet and arms. I've got the IV. Follow Mr. Castle."

Castle ran to the chopper and banged on the pilot's hatch. The pilot slid open the armored glass window and tried to read Castle's lips. Hearing was impossible. Frustrated, Castle pointed to the three soldiers carrying the wounded man and made a pleading gesture. The pilot nodded. He was Army and would take care of his own.

Castle motioned the men to the chopper and leaned in and shouted to make room for a wounded man. The Taliban decided that a chopper made a juicy target and started dropping mortar shells and the soundman panicked and shook his head and pushed Castle away hard and started yelling into his headset.

His intentions were clear. They were getting the hell out of there without the wounded soldier.

Castle reached in and grabbed the civilian by the heavy coat he wore and threw him out of the chopper and then motioned for the soldiers to put the wounded man on the chopper. He turned and started to yell an explanation that they could all leave once he was on board when he was kicked in the face by their contract security escort and knocked to the ground. The man pushed the wounded soldier off the chopper and motioned for the soundman to get back on and to hurry.

Castle saw red and lost his mind temporarily or as Javier Esposito would later exclaim, 'he went postal on his ass'. He reached in and grabbed the contractor by the web belt and collar and threw him off the bird and then motioned them to put the wounded guy on the chopper – again. He grabbed the soundman by the arm and pushed him on-board and then stepped back.

He raised his arm and gave a 'thumbs up' when he was struck in the back by two blows that knocked him face down on the ground.

The cameraman had started his tape rolling when Castle first approached the bird thinking that he was a GI who was trying to escape the battle. It would be good TV. He got a lot more than he bargained for.

He caught Castle's face when the security escort kicked him in the face after the 'soldier' had thrown the soundman clean off the chopper and put the wounded grunt on. He inadvertently caught the look of disgust on the face of the network talking head when he saw the wounded soldier being shoved aboard.

He caught it all on tape. Even when the escort shot Castle twice in the back with a pistol. He caught it all. He kept the tape rolling as the chopper took off and headed back to the operations base, focused on the knot of men converging on the downed soldier. A few appeared to be beating the crap out of the contractor but with the swirling snow it was hard to tell.

* * *

><p>Lower West Side<br>Channel 6 News Room

If looks could kill, Esposito's sister's boyfriend, the producer, would be dead.

"I – I – we – we didn't run that on the news. We never saw it. It came from the networks and we crammed it into the available time. Jesus, we never would have run it. Never. I'm so sorry. If there's anything I can do – "

"Yeah. Never see my sister again. And when the network sends you the feed tonight, we're going to preview it, understand? Jesus Christ! The man has family, a daughter, a mother, _her,"_ Esposito pointed to Beckett who was soundlessly crying, "and you scum ran it without any consideration for the people…"

"Javier, we didn't know. All we were told was that a video feed was coming down line and that we had to put up the parental warnings. We never get to see what's coming from the networks in advance."

"Get on the phone to the network and tell them you want the 10pm feed _now_ because they're about to get slapped with the biggest lawsuit by the greediest attorney the Castle family can find. Tell 'em that – "

"Esposito, no. Just get the feed as soon as you can. I'm taking Kate to my place. Producer man – you call Esposito the second you get it and we'll come back and preview it. No cameras. No special interviews. As God is my witness if his daughter has seen this, they'll never find your body. I hold you personally responsible, producer man. Remember that." Lanie knew people who knew people who owed her favors from the old days. She wasn't kidding.

"Let's go, Kate. We have to call Alexis and Martha before they see the news." She helped Kate to her feet and then she and Esposito led her out the door and to the car. Esposito was on the phone to Ryan, telling him to call Martha Rogers and tell her he was picking her up. Kate needed her.

Javier told them to wait and ran back into the studio and found the producer. The man cringed when Javier grabbed him, thinking he was about to have the crap beat out of him.

"What's the date/time stamp on the video? When was it shot?" He had a hunch but didn't want to give anyone any false hope.

"Wait. I'll queue it up and set the video to display the marker info."

Forty-five seconds later he had his answer.

"Look, man, Dr. Parish was serious. No one will find the body. Call me the instant the tape's available, got me?"

* * *

><p>Esposito got into the SUV and turned to Lanie and asked for Kate's phone.<p>

"What for?"

"Trust me. I got an idea." He figured right away that Castle was speed dial #1 and hit it. He didn't know if Sprint would work in Afghanistan but he knew it would connect if Castle was in Europe.

The phone rang several times before it was answered.

"Kate! How did you know I was on the way home? Now you won't be surprised!"

Esposito handed the phone to Kate and smiled. "Someone wants to talk with you. Please act surprised."

"Hello?"


	14. Chapter 14

Again more hits than words. Thank you for continuing to read and for the reviews. I'm getting a big head. Sorry for the brevity but I had to go to a funeral. We're dropping like flies.

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>Final Heat<span>_ by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 14<p>

She knew he would be mad. Paula or Gina had 'leaked' word that Castle was flying in from 'the war' and would give a brief statement at the airport at 2pm. When Kate found out about it, she was livid and called Gina and confronted her.

"Gina, Rick's going to kick your butt up around your neck. This is supposed to be a private time for us. There better not be any more damned surprises or I'll tell Rick to get a new publisher and a new agent. He's not under any contract to you and publicists are a dime a dozen. Fix this or you'll be more than the 'ex-wife', got me?

"Now, Kate – " She used that patronizing tone that Beckett hated. It carried the message that she was totally out of her element and should step aside and allow her 'betters' to handle the situation.

"Don't take that tone with me, you witch! If he gets hassled at the airport, _I'll_ kick you ass up around you neck since he's too much the gentleman to do it. I don't care how you get it done, that's your job. Do it or you'll be looking for another one." She disconnected the call and debated about just sending a car for him so that – No! He should see the three of them waiting for him as it should be. He would have the proper homecoming he deserved.

"Kate, you need to calm down, dear. Richard knows that being a public figure means having to sacrifice some personal privacy. While I agree with your sentiments, I know the business and it's the way things are done."

Martha was not patronizing in the least and Kate appreciated the older woman's views but it was not what Rick would want. It was what _she _wanted – that mercenary witch of an ex-wife of his. Kate wanted to greet him properly and not have it appear on Page Six with some lurid prose attached.

"I know, it's just that the emotions are going to be obvious and I don't want Alexis and I appearing all teary-eyed on Page Six. I'll suck it up but I hate the idea of using our reunion as a family as a selling point for some marketing plan."

"If I know my son, the media is going to get more than they bargained for. He feels very strongly about family and privacy and I know some of the famous 'Castle temper' will be in evidence. It night be fun to watch."

* * *

><p>Their car dropped them off at the International Arrivals terminal and Kate instructed the driver to 'circle around but don't you dare leave us standing on the curb in the media feeding frenzy'. The driver knew the Castles and knew what they wanted. He nodded and then got back into the limo and drove around as instructed. He wouldn't be more than 60 seconds away from the pickup point.<p>

Martha took control the second they entered the terminal. "Now, ladies, follow my lead. We'll get in, find him, extract him with minimal fuss and then have him in the limo as quickly as possible."

Kate looked at Alexis and saw the grin she was sporting. "Kate, you've seen Dad work a crowd but you haven't seen Grams work her magic. It'll be fine, you'll see."

"I just – I just wanted to have a few seconds of privacy for all of us. Alexis, you didn't hear his voice or hear what he _didn't_ say. He sounded tired, defeated, I don't know, _weary._"

"We'll just have to get him rested up, victorious and then you can tire him out the best way possible." She looked at Kate with a twinkle in her eye that proved she was a 'chip off the old block'.

"_Alexis Castle!_ Your father didn't raise you to – " Kate blushed deeply both from embarrassment and from knowing she had exactly that in mind. She just didn't think it was proper for Alexis to be so forward.

"Oh, c'mon, Kate. I'm in college now. I hear things that would curl your hair and besides, it's what you both need. Some serious alone-time. I'm spending the night with Grams at her place and so – you might want to plan a better strategy than 'letting him rest'."

"All right, girls. Here come the vultures, hyenas and jackals. Kate, dear, just nod and smile and look beautiful. Alexis, you know the drill."

"Yep. Tell them to kiss my ass!"

"Alexis – ladies do not use that kind of language. This isn't the time nor place for vulgarity." Kate looked at Alexis and smiled. She had been thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

><p>They were almost surrounded when Kate felt someone take her wrist and begin backing her out of the crowd. For a moment she became a cop and acted that way, twisting her arm free and turning to face her attacker – Castle!<p>

He was wearing a floppy hat, a baggy overcoat and hadn't shaved in weeks and smelled like it but in that second he looked, felt and smelled like heaven. He leaned in and whispered, "Kate, let the Castle babes do their thing. C'mon. I lied to Gina and told her my plane came at 11am. It came at 10."

She followed him a few steps but couldn't help herself. She stepped in front of him and slipped her arms through the unbuttoned coat and hugged him to her and only stopped when he wheezed "Jesus, Kate, broken ribs" and then she stepped back and started crying.

"Kate, baby, it's okay. I'm okay. You just squeezed me so damned hard and – I'm sorry. Please don't cry." He hadn't planned on her hugging him so tightly before he got the chance to warn her about the ribs.

"Oh, Rick, I'm sorry. I always seem to be hurting you. Let's get you home or to a doctor. The car's out front. Apparently this deception process has happened before?"

"Oh, yeah. My girls know the drill. Kate, I stink and I need to shave and beside you I look like a homeless bum. There wasn't the opportunity to get cleaned up. The Army wanted me out of Afghanistan quicker than I wanted to leave and I wanted to leave really bad!"

For the first time she noticed he was wearing camouflage pants and desert boots. They must have wanted him gone in a hurry because he was still wearing the clothes he'd been shot in.

She grabbed his hand in a vise grip and led him out the terminal door but stopped.

"Luggage?"

"What I'm wearing."

"Oh, Rick, your notes and – "

"Got it all up here," he said, pointing to his head, "and I didn't want to spend another second dodging the various network news crews looking for a story to go back for them. Esposito said he'd mail them to me."

"Esposito!"

"Small world. He's from California, not our Esposito. His name's Ron. Owe him big-time, him and Sullivan. I'll fill you in tonight, okay?"

She couldn't resist. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered hotly in his ear, "Oh, baby, I plan on you filling me in more than once tonight." She swiped his ear with her tongue.

"But you will bathe and shave. A girl's got standards, y'know? I'll even wash your back, honey."

"If I'd have suggested that 6 months ago, you'd have shot me."

"If I'd known then what I know now, you'd never have gotten out of the precinct that morning. I'd have dragged you into the break room and screwed your ears off until you begged for mercy."

"Really?" His eyebrows were raised and he had that doubting smile of his that made her crazy sometimes when they argued. He saw she was building up for a good cry again – something she said she never did before 'becoming one of your fangirls – and he didn't want that, not at all.

"Sweetheart, don't cry. Just talk to me. What's wrong?"

"I thought you died out there. I thought we'd never have our wedding, our kids, our grandkids, our own life together. That damned tape nearly killed your mother and I. Thank God Alexis didn't see it before we warned her you were still alive and unharmed."

"I didn't even know about it until I got to Kuwait and then everyone wanted a piece of the Castle. I didn't even see it until I was in the airport in Kabul. It was all over Al-jezerah."

They sat in the limo and she told him all about how she came to see the video and what happened. They all thought he'd been shot and no one could give them any information at all. He wasn't Army and he had no network affiliations so no one cared. It was Esposito who came up with the solution.

Castle just nodded. He felt like such a shit. He hadn't given any thought to how they'd be notified if he got greased, none at all it sobered him.

"I'd ask you to just cuddle up but even I know I stink. Look, it's over. I'm alive. Let's move on. Mother and Alexis will be here shortly and we can all go home. So tell me all about the weird cases you came up with while I was gone."


	15. Chapter 15

One chapter more and it's done. This chapter was hard to get working but it's more of a lead-in to the final chapter. Have patience.

thanks to all who are still with me.

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>Final Heat<span>_by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 15<p>

Castle Summer Home  
>The Hamptons, Long Island<p>

It was Memorial Day weekend and the Castle clan had invited all their friends to a Beginning of Summer weekend. Everyone was there and Kate Beckett was sitting with Alexis and Martha just enjoying the day. Her gaze strayed often to her future husband who was 'manning the grill' and she smiled, more these days than at any time before in her life. She was incredibly happy.

The first days after Castle's stealthy return from Afghanistan were hectic and cluttered with people and things but after that, things settled down to a more sedate pace.

Christmas had been her best in years and Castle had invited her Dad to come spend the holidays with them and he soon found himself under Martha's thrall. Kate wasn't sure how she felt about it but chose to ignore it. He was certainly old enough to make his own decisions but somewhere deep inside, Kate felt hurt. It felt like he was cheating on her mother.

Unfortunately for Kate, they really hit it off and they'd been dating, almost exclusively, since Christmas. It must be serious since Martha had announced she was no longer going to be a 'fixture at the Jupiter Dinner Theatre'. Kate had discussed it with Rick who thought the whole thing was 'cute' and told her not to worry about it. His mother was worse than he was before he'd met Beckett.

Esposito was Castle's official 'second chef' and he came out of the house carrying a large covered tray and presented to Rick with a flourish. Rick whipped off the tray's cover and dropped it with a loud 'clang' attracting everyone's attention.

He reached in a picked up Douglas' leg and gently carried it out onto the beach where he tried to find his fighting position. He held the huge brisket exactly as he had the leg and he became more and more frantic in his efforts to find the hole, frequently looking skyward as if expecting something to fall from it and hit him.

Esposito waved Kate over and then went to try and calm Castle down. He was muttering something about 'can't find the damned hole in all this snow' and he had a faraway look in his eyes that scared Esposito.

Kate came running up to him and gently took the brisket from him and handed it to Javier who followed her eyes and disappeared back to the grill. Kate would handle whatever was wrong, he had no doubt.

"Rick, it's okay. Douglas' leg – Rick it's okay. It's being taken care of. C'mon, honey, let's take a walk until you sort things out. Everything's fine, _you're fine!_ You're home and we're together. It's okay. You're home, honey, right where you belong."

This had happened twice before and the first time she'd handled it badly and he'd ended up screaming at her to get her 'damned Kevlar on and get back' in her hole. It took her too many precious minutes to figure out what was going on and to calm him down. The second time she knew what to expect after talking with the department shrink who'd helped her last year. This time was different, though. This time it had been a physical reminder and it was much worse.

She'd always considered him impervious to whatever life threw at him but now she knew better. He was a human being with all the limitations that came with it. Some things got through his armor of humor and deprecation and pierced him through to the heart.

When he'd finally choked out the story of the leg and Esposito's reaction and his actions, she felt a sense of horror at what must be an everyday occurrence for some men. Thank God she had a therapist on speed dial.

"I'm okay now, Kate. Sorry. It just hit me and I – I'm sorry. I've embarrassed you in front of our friends. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll be right as rain."

She tried to get him to see someone in the past but he'd always refused. "Kate, I think I'm going to ask your therapist for a referral to a civilian doctor and try and get this out of my system. Will you come with me, please?"

"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way. Let's get back to our guests. You want Esposito to burn the meat?"

"Maybe I'll let him cook. Think he'd mind? He didn't come up here to slave over a hot open grill, y'know. And his girlfriend might not appreciate losing him to the grill either."

"That's great. You should delegate and besides, Javier's been bragging about how good a cook he is. Let him show us. We'll sit with Alexis and catch up on all the Princeton stuff."

Alexis hadn't ever seen her father in a flashback and she didn't know what to make of it. She'd taken Psych 101 like every other freshman had but it didn't cover anything like this so she was watchful and careful around her dad.

They chatted for a while and then just sat in a comfortable silence. Kate had his hand in a gentle grip running her other hand up his arm and enjoying the feel of him without worrying about someone making a smart-assed remark about 'PDAs'.

He was almost asleep when his cell chirped and he didn't recognize the caller ID.

* * *

><p>"Castle" He listened, then sported a huge grin.<p>

"Ron! Where are you? Well, dumbass, walk outside and look at the name." There was a pause and then he continued. "Great. Stay put. How long between flights? Really? That's great. You're coming up here. We're having a party and I won't take no for an answer. Sit there and nurse your beer and someone will page you. I'll see you when you get here. By the way, Nikki's here but the freeze-dried twinkie passed on me. OK, deep-fried, but either way, she's not here. Good. Later."

"Okay, Castle what was that all about and why is 'Nikki' here and the 'twinkie' is an issue to you? I assume you mean Gina, right?" Her wandering hand had ended up on the inside of a thigh and she wasn't even aware of her stroking his leg.

"That was Esposito! I invited him up for the weekend. He's on terminal leave and just got in and called to say 'hi'. Wait until Javi meets his alter ego."

Kate knew all about Esposito and how close Rick had become to him in the three months he'd bummed around Afghanistan. That was his term for 'embedded' – bummed.

"Great! I'm so looking forward to meeting him. I got this image of a Latino Terminator from your descriptions of him." She glanced at Alexis who had suddenly taken interest in the conversation. At last, someone her own age.

"I'm having a car bring him here from the airport. Man, it'll be good to see him clean!" The family laughed because Beckett had commented, after at least two showers and a good soak in the tub that it would be 'good to see him clean again' and it had been the family joke for a while.

"You'd better tell Javier that his doppelganger is on the way and to put some meat away for him. You know how he is when he gets grilling and drinking beer. He and Ryan will have a field day with your friend."

"Kate, you don't think they'll give him a hard time because he's a soldier, do you? I won't have that in my house. If any of them have a problem with him being here, they can just pack up and get out!"

"Hey, baby, they'll just tease him about the name and about having to baby sit the big bad Castle. That's all I meant. He'll probably end up an honorary detective before the weekend's over. Don't worry. They have better sense than that."

Castle sat there mumbling something she couldn't understand. He was prone to doing that since he came home. He spent moments staring out the window and mumbling and when she asked him about it, he'd look sheepish and just give her that smile of his that went right to her loins, and he did it deliberately, deflecting whatever intentions she had.

* * *

><p>Lanie, Martha and Kate were sitting with Jenny probably discussing the wedding and the guys were all sitting around the grill, pretending to tend it but really telling each other lies. Jim Beckett seemed to be holding his own with the two younger feisty detectives.<p>

Castle glanced at his watch and walked back into the house trailed by Alexis. She was keeping an eye on her father after his 'episode'. She didn't want him having another one when no one was around to help him. She was surprised when he went straight through the house and out the front door. Was he leaving them for some reason?

Just as he'd suspected, Ron Esposito, still in BDUs but clean ones, was sitting on the bench beside the boxwoods. He should have told him to 'come around back when you get here' because no one on the back patio could hear the doorbell.

Castle approached him cautiously after seeing that he was dozing. Soldiers did that when there was nothing else to do. They always seemed sleep-deprived.

"Hey, Esposito, wake up and come meet Nikki heat and have a beer." He gently shook him by the shoulder and stepped back when Esposito sprang up and looked around, still half asleep.

"Rick!" He took Castle's offered hand and then pulled him into a fast embrace. "Man, you clean up good, old man!" He couldn't understand why Castle started to laugh and then clap him on the back.

"C'mon, I want you to meet my family, my friends, and, of course, Nikki Heat. Sorry the twinkie couldn't make it but I'm sure you'll find a substitute strolling on the beach."

He walked him through the house, smiling because he was trying so hard not to gawk and look like some poor dumb jerk from the toolies.

"People, this is Ron Esposito, my battle buddy." Introductions were made to the guys first with Esposito giving his doppelganger the hairy eyeball before breaking out into a big smile.

"So, you and Castle, snuggled up in foxholes in Afghanistan? Want to share any tales? We could use the blackmail material. Beckett's not talking about anything so we're dry on blackmail leverage."

Alexis had followed them out onto the patio. He wasn't what she expected, no, not at all. He was…interesting. Yeah, that was it. Interesting. She walked over and put her arm around her dad and said, "Introduce me, will ya, Pops? Someone my own age to talk to."

Beckett looked at Castle across Alexis' head and smirked as if saying, _'You handle this one - Pops._'

Javier announced that food was ready and gestured to the pile of steaks and hamburgers. The brisket was missing and Kate wondered if Ron Esposito could provide some insights into the episode. She wanted so badly to help her Rick.

The group broke into couples after the feast. Jim and Martha announced they were driving 'into town and catch a movie' while Ryan and Jenny left to attend a party at her parents' but would be back the following afternoon.

Javier and Lanie sat across from Rick and Kate while Alexis sat at one end of the table and Ron at the other. She'd planned it this way. She wanted to hear everything he had to say. After all, he was interesting.

"So, Ron, tell us all about how Castle behaved over there. Must have been frustrating having to baby sit an adult with all that going down around you. Any tales like we talked about?"

"Nope. Mr. Castle was a good troop, a little green, but he shaped up nicely. His patrolling skills sucked but that's no surprise. He didn't have the training but he proved he could keep up. The only times I saw him shaken up was when we got blasted by IEDs."

"Rick! You never said a thing about that! Ron, what happened?" Kate was going to kill him for keeping such a thing from her.

"Kate, it happens every day. It's no big thing, really. Those Strykers are like Timex watches – they take a licking and keep on ticking. Ron, don't make a big thing out of something that was so commonplace."

"Ha! I've got more road miles under my belt than anyone else in the platoon and the _only_ times we got whacked were when I was riding with you, Captain Black Cloud." He used the unofficial nickname Rick had picked up and quickly squelched.

Javier just grinned. He'd have to work this new information into a bet and clean Ryan out. He was already plotting when the conversation got interesting.

"Ron, what happened to that kid that we shoved onto the chopper? I never knew his name. He was brand new." Castle often wondered but had no way of knowing. he didn't even know his name.

Esposito knew better than to tell the truth and bring the party to an end, so he lied to protect his friend.

"He's back home and claiming that once he gets a pro-foot that he'll be back. Wouldn't surprise me if he did. No doubt about it, old man, you saved that kid's life and made the entire platoon proud. That damned contractor got the shit kicked out of him after he shot you. Damn, you went down hard and we thought you were dead for sure but you had your vest on right for a change."

Kate remembered the bath they shared and how she'd been so upset at the two large and colorful bruises on his back. "He broke two ribs but the vest did its job and brought him home to me, thank God. They ever prosecute the guy?"

"Threw him out of the country. He's probably packing heat in Iraq. Guys like him thrive on war. He makes 100Gs a year for doing what we do for peanuts but it's what we chose when we joined up."

"So, Ron, now that you're out of the Army, what are you going to do?"

"Well, I thought I'd go back to teaching. I was good at it and I think a quiet classroom is just the ticket."

"You were a teacher? But you told me some wild tale of living in East L.A. and joining a gang and…"

"Hey, I was an English Lit and History major at UC Davis. I took a lot of creative writing classes so I'm – creative! Besides, it made such a better story than a college grad whose parents were both dentists but were killed in an auto accident, right?"

Alexis was suddenly very interested in the young man sitting opposite her. Very interested.

Kate looked at Rick and started to giggle, then laugh and finally the entire table joined in. It was rare when anyone put one over on the Master of Deceit but Esposito the Younger had definitely managed it.

Castle joined in but when he looked at Ron it was with the eyes of a father, not a friend. Oh, yeah, he'd seen the look Alexis had been giving the young man. He recognized it. It was the same look Kate had when she was feeling – frisky.


	16. Chapter 16

This is the last chapter and it's been interesting reading your responses and making interesting acquaintances. It's short and I wanted to avoid a 'puff piece' but some things can't be avoded. Forgive me for the sap. Thanks for riding along on an old man's sojourn into something different.  
>OM<p>

* * *

><p><em><span>Final Heat<span>_ by Oldest Man

Final Chapter

The couples had all pitched in and the patio was spotless. Rick had a service that would be in later in the week to really clean the place but it would do for them now.

"Kate, where's Alexis?" Castle had lent Ron some shorts and a few shirts to tide him over until he could fend for himself. He was surprised again at how different his friend looked out of uniform. He was muscular, tanned and even with short hair would turn heads with his 'Latino good looks' as he'd laughingly referred to himself.

"Um, I don't know. I think Alexis said something about a walk on the beach. Rick, she's 19, she's got more self-control than you did at 39. Let them enjoy the beach and the warm evening. You could always pay a little more attention to me, y'know? I haven't had my Castle fix yet today and I'm Jonesing really bad."

"Kate – okay, I'll cool it with the parental concern. He's a great guy but he's way too old for her. I bet – "

"Castle, you're 9 years older than I am. Should I be out looking for a younger guy? Maybe you're right. When I'm 60 you'll be almost 70! Maybe you're right – "

Her shriek echoed throughout the house when he went all 'caveman' on her, threw her over his shoulder and quickly took the stairs and then threw her on the bed. She was laughing so hard that she didn't notice that he'd closed and locked the door and begun to take off his clothes, throwing them anywhere.

The old man proceeded to show here that he was up to the task of meeting her needs – even at such an advanced age.

* * *

><p>The Beach<p>

Esposito spun around in the sand, his combat reflexes still sharp even though he was home. "Did you hear that? A woman screamed! C'mon, Alexis, someone's in trouble!"

"Kate. She probably started zinging my dad about something and, well, they always end up loudly making up. I know it's embarrassing but he's my dad and I love him, faults and all."

"Man, that's kind of – weird. The Castle I knew didn't have much of a silly streak. Oh, he was funny as hell, but he was all business 24/7 when we were in the field. The man had nerves of steel when things got 'busy'. He got ice water in his veins. He's one cold dude when crap happens." Esposito's vocabulary, syntax and speech took on a different face when he talked about 'over there'. Alexis noticed it immediately. He separated one 'Esposito' from the other.

"Now_, that's_ weird. I never figured he'd be a 'grown up' in _any_ environment. He's always been a cut-up, never taking much too seriously. Who you described seems like such a stranger to me."

He changed the subject, uncomfortable talking to the sexy redhead about her father. It seemed disrespectful somehow. Besides, he wasn't interested in her father, not at all.

"So, tell me all about Alexis Castle, the Pumpkin of many a tale told at night."

"I'm so going to kill him! Tell me what he said? C'mon, Ron, a girl's got a right to know!"

"It was all nice and cute. He never told anyone you were 19. Everyone thought you were 4 or 5. But seriously, tell me about Alexis Castle, not the Pumpkin Princess."

* * *

><p>6 Months Later – The Hamptons<p>

Castle was nervous. He felt – unsettled. This was something he never thought would happen and yet, it was.

"Rick, chill. Man, you were never this nervous over there. This is going to be easy, a walk in the park, a – "

"Ron, you're taking this 'Best Man' role to extremes. Look, just make sure the ring is in your pocket. No mistakes. Beckett will kill you if you screw up like at the rehearsal."

"Y'know, you're going to have to drop the 'Beckett' from your vocabulary, old man. She's going to be a Castle, one of the clan."

The wedding was held at their home in the Hamptons at Kate's insistence. She had her reasons. The house held such special memories for the both of them. He agreed, of course. It didn't matter if they married in a subway station. It was the bride that mattered.

Twenty minutes later

"Give me the damned ring, Esposito!" He was whispering and the group of close friends were deathly quiet awaiting the end of the ceremony and the beginning of what promised to be one hell of a party.

"It's here someplace. I checked before I left the room. I had it, old man, I promise – ah!" He handed the ring to Castle and watched as he slipped it on his bride's finger. Kate winked at him and he knew all was forgiven. He glanced over at Alexis and saw that she was barely keeping it together. She thought his jitters were hilarious.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Castle".

* * *

><p>Five years later<br>The Hamptons

Castle was nervous. He felt – unsettled. This was something he never thought would happen and yet, it was.

"Rick, chill. Man, you were never this nervous over there. This is going to be easy, a walk in the park, a – "

"Hey! That's so easy for you to say, Esposito. I can't believe this is happening. Are you sure this is what you want? You haven't known her all that long and really, I mean, are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Now, get out of here and take your place, old man. Kate's not going to be pleased if this doesn't come off without a hitch."

"Well, this time, Ron, I have the ring. No glitches. This has to be perfect."

"Yeah. Perfect." He wiped his damp palms on his morning suit and fiddled with his tie.

Castle stood at the back of the gathering, waiting for his cue. Kate had insisted on having it here again. She liked the idea of repeating perfection. That was her favorite phrase for it, repeating perfection. Since leaving the police force and moving to the Hamptons permanently, they'd added a baby girl, Danielle, to the family. Now two and epitomizing the 'terrible twos' she was out on the patio with her nanny.

"Ready, Dad?" Alexis stepped up beside him and took his arm. He glanced over and thought how quickly she'd grown up. She looked like her mother had on their wedding day. That dark thought reminded him to send her a letter bomb. Imagine; too busy shooting a made-for-TV movie to come to her only daughter's wedding! Bitch.

"Alexis, are you _sure_ this is what you want? It's not too late to postpone it. Wait a few more years until you're certain he's the one."

"I'm sure. I'm certain. No putting it off. What's Mom call you? Her 'one and done'? He's mine. All mine."

It made Castle so happy that she referred to Kate as 'Mom'. They were so much alike in all the important ways. More like sisters than stepmother and stepdaughter.

"C'mon, Dad, let's get this done and then you and Mom and Danni can have the house to yourselves for a while."

Castle escorted his daughter down the aisle and then took his place beside the groom as best man.

Life was good.


End file.
